IT’S Derby week, with Epsom’s two-day meeting culminating in Saturday’s Classic, which is generally regarded as the highlight of British racing’s summer Flat season. Perhaps someone should have explained that to whoever was serving up the weather at Ripon yesterday.

Whereas the Derby tends to produce images featuring a kaleidoscope of sun-drenched colour as the runners swing their way around Tattenham Corner, yesterday was a much greyer affair. A squally shower whipped across the course just as the opening race was getting underway, and a fair old breeze battered the hanging baskets at a venue that rightly revels in its reputation as ‘Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse’.

Never mind picking winners, the main thing on most people’s minds was the question of whether they were going to be able to get out of the car park at the end of the day without getting stuck in the mud.

It felt more like Wetherby in November than Northern racing’s warm up ahead of the Oaks and Derby double, but for the regional contingent that will be heading to Epsom later in the week, it was still an opportunity to boost morale with some welcome winners.

Unlike in the last two seasons, when Libertarian and The Grey Gatsby ensured Yorkshire was well represented in the three-year-old ranks, the region does not have a viable contender among the Classic generation this time around.

Attention will therefore be focused elsewhere, and as ever, no Northern trainer will have a stronger Epsom contingent than Mark Johnston, who has traditionally tended to dominate the two-year-old Woodcote Stakes, one of the most valuable support races on Saturday’s Derby card.

Johnston has six of his youngsters entered in this weekend’s renewal, and while plans remain fluid with Musselburgh hosting a valuable juvenile race of their own this weekend, the Middleham handler appears to be leaning towards entering Buratino, who was runner-up in a Listed sprint at Sandown last time out.

“He won his first race of the season, and at that time, we would have had him marked down as our best (two-year-old),” said Johnston. “But then he was beaten at Ascot and I was starting to think I was wrong.

“He won well at Newmarket after that, and then followed up with a good run at Sandown. There’s no doubt he’s up to that standard (for the Woodcote) but I’m planning to run two at Epsom and two at Musselburgh, and haven’t made a final decision on what goes where yet.”

At least Johnston could forget about his weekend conundrum for a while yesterday as he celebrated a quick-fire double at the top of the card.

The wins could hardly have been more different, with another of his two-year-olds, Fashionable Spirit, seizing the advantage early to run out a comfortable winner of the British Stallion Studs EBF Maiden Stakes before Mythical City swooped with a decisive late flourish to claim the Follow RiponRaces on Twitter Handicap. Both winners were partnered by Silvestre de Sousa, who was making his first appearance at Ripon since 2012.

“She’s (Fashionable Spirit) been running in some pretty good races, and finished third in the Lily Agnes (at Chester), which was always going to be a tall order,” he said. “I thought she was going to win at Sandown in her last race, but she just seemed to jink a furlong out, so we always thought she was a nice horse.

“The other win wasn’t what I expected at all, and I thought there must have been something wrong with her (Mythical City) at halfway. But Silvestre said they went off pretty fast at the front and she was able to come with a late run.”

Yesterday’s feature race, the Class Three Weatherbys Hamilton Handicap, went the way of 9-1 shot Instant Attraction, who is trained at Leyburn by Jedd O’Keefe.

O’Keefe doesn’t have anything entered at Epsom, but he is looking ahead to this month’s Royal Ascot meeting and hoping one of his stable stars, Shared Equity, gets a run in the Wokingham Stakes.

“He’s entered in the Wokingham, but as things stand at the moment, he won’t get in,” said O’Keefe, who was celebrating his 30th turf winner of the season courtesy of Instant Attraction’s success. “He’ll need to win before that to get in, so he’s entered up at Ayr on Monday, but he’ll only go for that race if there’s a bit of give in the ground.

“We think there’s a lot more to come from him, but whether he can get himself into the Wokingham remains to be seen.”

Tim Easterby is also looking ahead to Ascot, and after saddling Honeysuckle Lil (9-2) to victory in yesterday’s sprint handicap, the Malton trainer turned his attentions to star sprinter Mattmu’s possible assault on the Group One Commonwealth Cup at the Royal meeting.

Mattmu disappointed when finishing halfway down the field as Adaay landed the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock at the weekend, but Easterby felt there were excuses for the three-year-old’s run.

“David (Allan) said he tried to jump the road that runs across the course and that seemed to unsettle him,” he said. “We were disappointed with him, although he came out of the race okay. I think Ascot should suit him, although there’d have to be a bit of rain beforehand for him to run.”