IRELAND and Britain might have been in near-shutdown recently due to the weather, but there has been plenty going on around the globe in places like Florida, California, Dubai and Australia.

According to the betting, this year’s Kentucky Derby on May 5th is the most open for years, but regular Time Will Tell readers will know that I regarded Bolt d’Oro as head if not shoulders above the rest of last year’s US juvenile crop. He ran very fast (127 timefigure by my reckoning) when winning the Grade 1 FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita but then got a brutal trip and came only third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Del Mar. He has not run since.