The 2022 Epsom Derby: Your must read guide to this year's Festival

When is it?

This year's Epsom Derby Festival - known as the Cazoo Derby Festival for sponsorship reasons - commences on Friday 3 June with a seven-race card starting at 14:00. It concludes on Saturday 4 June with the final race going off at 17:50.

Where can I watch it?

Regarding the Covid pandemic, everything is back to normal in terms of attending race meetings so if you're lucky enough to get your hands on a ticket then you can visit the stunning Epsom racecourse in person should you choose.

Alternatively, you can watch the racing from your armchair with all 14 races over the two days being shown live on Racing TV (subscription service) or the first five races from each day being shwon on free-to-air ITV1, starting at 13:10 on Friday and 12:40 on Saturday.

And finally, if you're on the move, then you can watch every race over the two days on a tablet or mobile device. Just log into your Betfair account, go to the race you want to watch on either the Exchange or Sportsbook platform, and click on the Watch Live Video tab.

What are the main races?

The two big races of the Festival are the Classics, the Cazoo Oaks (16:30) on Friday, and the richest Flat race in Britain, the Cazoo Derby (16:30) on Saturday.

The Group 1 Coronation Cup (15:10) is another big race on Friday, while the Epsom Dash (14:00) is always an ultra-competitive curtain raiser to Derby Day.

Who are the trainers to look out for?

For the feature race itself, the Cazoo Derby, then in most cases you need look no further than Aidan O'Brien who is the leading most winning trainer of this prestigius race with eight wins, including victories in six of the last 10 renewals.

O'Brien could be represented by as many as five runners in Saturday's Derby, including the much-fancied Stone Age who has won both of his races this season in facile fashion.

Sir Michael Stoute has five Derby wins to his name but is without a victory in the race for 12 years now, however he trains the current favourite Desert Crown so holds strong claims of finally getting to half a dozen Derby wins.

Charlie Appleby's reputation as a top class trainer continues to grow and he has tasted success in two of the last four renewals of the Derby. He is set to be represented by two lively outsiders on Saturday in the shape of Walk Of Stars and Nahanni.

When it comes to the Oaks then two trainers have dominated the race in recent times, winning nine of the last 10 renewals between them, that man O'Brien (six wins) and John Gosden (three).

It will be quite the surprise if one of them isn't successful again on Friday with Gosden (now John & Thady Gosden) holding a very strong hand in the shape of the first two in the betting, Emily Upjohn and Nashwa, while O'Brien is set to saddle the third favourite Concert Hall and fifth favourite Tuesday.

Who are the main fancies?

If you follow the trainers mentioned above then you're very likely to be siding with the favourites when it comes to the two Classics.

Emily Upjohn is the very strong 10/11 favourite on the Betfair Sportsbook for the Cazoo Oaks on Friday after she demolished her rivals in one of the key trials, the Musidora Stakes, at York a few weeks back.

Her main rival could well be her stablemate Nashwa, who can be backed at 4/1 following her most recent success in a Listed race at Newbury.

Concert Hall was beaten the best part of six lengths in last week's Irish 1,000 Guineas, but she is still a highly-fancied runner for the Oaks at 9/2, with the step up to 1m4f expected to be very much in her favour.

More than 40% of the money traded on the Exchange in the Derby market has been on the front two in the betting, with Desert Crown the current 2.915/8 favourite (Saturday 28 May, 11:00) having been matched at a high of 50.049/1, and Stone Age trading at 5.49/2 from a high of 80.079/1.

Both were very impressive winners of their trials and they are likely to take a lot of beating, though it's worth noting that O'Brien has won this race on more than one occasion in recent years with a lesser fancied runner, so market support for Changingoftheguard (currently 13.012/1), United Nations (24.023/1) or Star Of India (36.035/1) in the coming days may not come as a surprise.

Are there any antepost previews?

Our resident tipster Tony Calvin has taken an early look at Friday's Oaks here, where he fancies a lively outsider for perhaps an unfashionable trainer who has won the race twice this century.

Tony will also be taking a look at the Derby early in the week as well as giving his thoughts on some of the other ITV Racing contests.

You can read all of Tony's columns - antepost and daily tips - by visiting his dedicated page on betting.betfair.

Where can I get daily tips?

Right here >>> Epsom Derby and Oaks Tips.

Throughout the week and each day of the Epsom Derby meeting we'll have exclusive insight from our ambassador Ryan Moore, daily news from Daryl Carter, all the races covered and his top tips from Tony Calvin, plus daily picks from ITV Racing pundit Kevin Blake, plus much more.