The Derby picture should have clarity by now - instead we have a logjam at the head of the betting

We've reached that time of year when the Derby favourite sometimes emerges rather suddenly, like Moses coming through the mists on his way down Mount Sinai. Where there was bafflement, clarity reigns – that's the idea, anyway, but we haven't had our moment of lucidity yet, so the Dante will have to provide it.

Military Order had his chance to fire up everyone's imagination in the Fitzdares Lingfield Derby Trial but he didn't quite manage it. Indeed, those who backed him down to evens may have been having kittens inside the final furlong as the previously unheralded 10-1 shot Waipiro ranged alongside, looking sure to go past.

But he was hanging in towards the favourite and Rob Hornby had to take a moment to straighten him up. While they lost momentum, Military Order maintained his remorselessly and was going away in the final 50 yards, looking like a horse who would be better suited by a bigger turf circuit.