Racing: Beat All drifts in the Derby market

BEAT ALL, the Derby favourite, drifted in the betting last night after it was revealed that he had pricked a foot at exercise yesterday morning.

William Hill pushed Beat All out to 8-1 from 13-2, while Coral added the "with a run" clause to their quote of 4-1. The colt's connections, though, insisted that the problem is not thought to be serious.

The ante-post market also holds a nasty shock for punters who have made Zahrat Dubai, the Oaks favourite, their Classic banker of the summer. Though still at the head of most bookies' lists, Zahrat Dubai drifted alarmingly yesterday after a wholesale gamble on Kilting - who is trained, like the favourite, by the Godolphin operation.

As rumours linked Gary Stevens, the top American jockey whose arrival in Britain is imminent, with the ride on Kilting, bookmakers reacted by cutting her price from anything up to 25-1 down to as low as 4-1.

There was a new name at the top of the Derby betting yesterday too, although not in quite such dramatic circumstances. When Saffron Waldon won the Irish 2,000 Guineas last weekend, it persuaded many residents of the Essex town to go out and back him for the Derby, even though, as they quickly pointed out, where they come from, they spell the second part Walden.

The mistake was the result of a typing error when the colt was originally named. Normally, he would be stuck with it for life, but the Jockey Club agreed to activate rarely-used powers and allow his name to be changed.