THE Derby, the Oaks and the Coronation Cup produced strong times at Epsom but there were also a few notable performances on the undercards. In particular, Laugh Aloud looked a filly capable of making her mark in the highest grade after she registered an easy win in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday.

Not only was her overall time good – worth a 115 timefigure – but her closing sectional of 37.54 secs was pretty slick too.

Laugh Aloud’s overall time was 1.07 secs quicker than Sovereign Debt’s in winning the Diomed Stakes 35 minutes later, and that sectional was 0.39 secs quicker for good measure. While the latter horse can undoubtedly run faster than this 103 timefigure, all comparisons point to the Godolphin filly being the better performer.

FARCICAL

Godolphin’s colours had been carried to victory on Friday in a valuable handicap by

G K Chesterton, but this was a farcically slowly-run race, resulting in a winning timefigure of just 25. The winner very much got the run of it up front. Runner-up Mythical Madness and seventh-placed Sixties Groove get the biggest mark-ups, the latter catching the eye also in the sprint to the line.

Interestingly, six of the runners in that extended mile handicap ran quicker for the final sectional than Caspian Prince did in winning the five-furlong “Dash” the following day, though the latter had done a lot more running in the furlong or two which preceded the sectional to match strides with other speedsters.

Caspian Prince’s 113 timefigure is speculative given that five-furlong races at Epsom take place on a different part of the track to other distances, and that this was the only such race across the two days, but it is in keeping with what the popular eight-year-old has achieved at his best previously.

The Woodcote Stakes was stripped of its listed status before Friday’s renewal, but De Bruyne Horse ran the fastest time of the last five years and can be regarded as a superior winner. His 102 timefigure places him fourth among the juveniles in Britain and Ireland at the time of writing.

The Jessica Harrington-trained Alpha Centauri (106) still leads the way, but second and third positions go to the one-two in a record-breaking conditions race at Musselburgh on Saturday.

It Dont Come Easy (104 timefigure) had a head to spare over the filly Rebel Assault (103) at the line, with the rest 10 lengths and more adrift. Both horses could easily play major roles at Royal Ascot despite such humble backgrounds.