Today the Epsom Derby, the most famous horse race in the world although no longer the richest, was run. Here is my account of the race, with more than a passing nod to the Dylan Thomas poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night."

Do not go gentle into the home straight,
The others are coming up like express trains
Go faster, donkey, the winning post’s in sight.

Two furlongs out I was counting ill - gotten gains
and thinking about very big drinks tonight.
but the jockey was too gentle on the reins.

Caught on the line, it does not seem right,
my horse led from the start and staked his claims,
but in the end lack of stamina was his plight.

The first two horses, I forget their names,
both timed their final surge just right.
Horse racing can be the most cruel of games.

Dylan Thomas ran a good race but did not quite
have that turn of foot to fulfil his trainers aims,
though the marging of defeat was only slight

Still and each way bet at twenty fives is alright.
Sometimes it pays to back horses by their names
and Dylan Thomas carried a poet’s bet round Epsom’s tight
and undulating track and finished in the frame.

Yes, I backed a horse called Dylan Thomas in the Derby, £10 each way (win and place across the pond) at 25 to 1 (quarter the odds for a place) not a great result but not bad - and I got an easy post out of it.

Yes, I backed Dylan Thomas in the Derby, £10 each way (win and place) at 25 to 1 (quarter the odds for a place) not a great result but not bad - and I got an easy post out of it.