No Derby? No problem! Dawn to dusk horseracing offers something for every type of punter

And now for something completely different. Last Saturday, Derby day at Epsom, was all about one race. Like Grand National day, there were quite a few other races of interest but the whole afternoon still felt like marking time before the big one. The central event had so much gravity, everything else was just orbiting.

Today is not one of those days. Haydock's card carries the shield of Premier racing, which is sort of helpful, but there is no one standout event casting everything else into the shade. What we have instead is lots of really good action that will keep you entertained for as much spare time as you happen to have. There are eight cards across Britain and Ireland, most of them making for a busy afternoon because, on this occasion, the premierisation pushers aren't trying to make us focus on one particular thing.

The action isn't confined to these shores either. Sha Tin in Hong Kong stages a ten-race card from 9am and you can follow the fates of 'our' jockeys there, Harry Bentley and Andrea Atzeni, because Sky Sports Racing will show all of it; they have five rides each and Atzeni is trying to sustain a good recent run. And later there are six Grade 1 contests from Saratoga which will sustain you almost to midnight. Much of the action is on dirt but there are raiders from Britain and Ireland in the turf races, plus three booked rides for Frankie Dettori.