David Loder his trainer has not so much started the season in first gear as reverse with just 28 runners and

David Loder, his trainer, has not so much started the season in first gear as reverse, with just 28 runners and five winners, but Indiscreet at least now seems to have come to hand, and the son of St Jovite, the 1992 Irish Derby winner, must be expected to secure a place in the stalls at Epsom.Horses with previous winning form over the rolling downland hills always deserve close inspection at Goodwood, and STAR TALENT (nap 4.10), revitalised by a close-season move to Ian Balding, is one to be on in the eight-furlong handicap.The words “John Dunlop” after a horse’s name are also unusually encouraging at this track, and his Zaima (next best 2.40) can beat some poorly handicapped rivals earlier in the afternoon.A puzzled silence still shrouds the Newmarket headquarters of the Godolphin string, where tests continue in the hope of discovering why the irrepressible form of recent seasons has deserted their runners in 1997.Bookmakers, though, have already decided that the Derby will come too soon for Happy Valentine, who was 8-1 favourite for the Classic just two months ago, and yesterday both William Hill and Coral removed him from their ante-post lists. There is, however, one other colt in the Predominate field who could prove to be among the best of his generation, and for that reason alone, Indiscreet (3.40) deserves support today.When he broke the juvenile course record in the Convivial Maiden Stakes at York – a race won previously by In The Groove, Owington and Danehill – on his course debut, Indiscreet guaranteed himself a prominent position in 2,000 Guineas betting through the winter.The first Classic came too quickly for him, however, and following a scrambled victory against exposed horses at Beverley earlier this month, fickle ante-post punters have allowed him to drift out to 40-1 for the Derby. Pentire, successful two years ago, went on to win the King George, while Minster Son won the St Leger, but the race could be dubbed the Setback Stakes, since many of its competitors have suffered an interrupted start to the Classic campaign, and to win at Epsom after a hurried preparation is little short of impossible.It is a fact which at least two of the trainers with fancied runners today seem to have accepted, with Luca Cumani, who will saddle Grapeshot, apparently convinced that “nothing will beat Entrepreneur”, while John Gosden, whose Conon Falls won a maiden at Chester’s May meeting, admitted after that race that the only Derby his horse might hope to run in would be in Germany or Italy. The older generation of punters still insists that the Predominate is the last of the major Derby trials, but not since Troy in 1979 has a Goodwood winner followed up at Epsom, and while four of today’s six runner’s still hold an entry in the greatest Classic, all are available at 33-1 or more this morning.
This is not to say that all Predominate winners are doomed to a career of under-achievement and – if they are lucky – retirement to a stud somewhere in eastern Europe. There are plenty of good reasons to travel to Sussex for the first day of Goodwood’s racing season, from the beauty of the surrounding countryside and the course’s award-winning architecture to the strength and depth of competition, but anyone who turns up for today’s Predominate Stakes expecting to see the next Derby winner is simply being greedy.

285 G Graham 69 79 71 66; D Coe-Jones (Can) 70 75 71 69; 286 T Johnson (GB) 70 73 72 71; 287 K Webb 71 79 70 67; B Mucha 68 73 72 74; 288 K Robbins 73 74 74 67; P Bradley 70 75 76 67; B Burton 71 73 76 68; D Dormann 70 73 75 70; J Dickinson 75 72 68 73.. The first prize moved Johnson into the top five in the 1997 money list.LPGA CHAMPIONSHIP (Wilmington, Delaware) Leading final scores (US unless stated): 281 C Johnson 68 73 69 71 (Johnson won on the second play-off hole); L Lindley 72 69 69 71 282 A Sorenstam (Swe) 70 73 72 67 284 L Davies (GB) 67 75 74 68; S Steinhauer 68 71 73 72. Lindley, however, struggled on the second sudden-death hole, the 10th, after sending her tee shot into the trees on the right of the fairway.
Lindley, seeking her first career win, missed a 30 foot putt for par before the 39-year-old Johnson rolled in a six-footer for her eighth career victory and the first since 1995. First place went to the American Chris Johnson, who had a par on the second play-off hole against her countrywoman Leta Lindley to take the title.

Johnson had bogeys on the 18th hole twice, once in regulation to force the play-off and once to keep the play-off going. Laura Davies, the defending champion, failed in her attempt for a third victory in the LPGA Championship at Wilmington, Delaware, although a final-round 68 moved her into joint fourth three shots behind. 270 T Kite 69 67 67 67; L Roberts 70 64 68 68; O Browne 74 64 63 69; D Hart 64 68 69 69, N Price (Zim) 69 65 67 69, D Edwards 70 67 63 70; D Berganio 68 63 66 73 Selected: 276 N Faldo (GB) 66 68 69 73 278 David Frost (SA) 68 68 66 76 281 Hideki Kase (Japan) 68 70 67 76.. 268 B Tway 69 65 68 66; A Magee 66 65 69 68; C Perry 65 67 66 70; P Stankowski 64 66 68 70; B Bryant 65 67 66 70; M Standly 66 63 68 71; J Furyk 63 67 67 71.