Racing: Chocolat a dark horse for the Derby: Outsiders go on trial for Epsom as Turtle turns to France and Brocco prepares to take Bull by the horns in the Run for the Roses

IT HAS the up and downs and the sharp left turn, but if the Derby Trial at Lingfield this afternoon bears any closer resemblance to the main event at Epsom three weeks on Wednesday, the Classic is in trouble. Six of today's runners are entered for Epsom, but none has shown form worthy of a handicap on the undercard there.

Not that the lack of proven ability in today's field has stopped the bookmakers quoting one of them, The Deep, at 25-1 for the Derby, and another, the Brighton maiden winner Chocolat De Meguro, at 33-1. The latter's 12-length defeat of Life At Sea in the Pycombe Maiden Stakes may have escaped the notice of some punters. Those with long memories, though, will recall that it is a favourite race of Guy Harwood, Chocolat De Meguro's trainer.

It was in this apparently insignificant contest that Harwood initiated the three-year- old career of Cacoethes. The colt went on to finish runner-up to Nashwan in the King George and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, while of more immediate interest is the fact that he also won the Lingfield Derby Trial.

To be worthy of a run at Epsom, today's winner will surely need to put several lengths between himself and the runner- up. Despite the confidence of Barry Hills, his trainer, The Deep's dismal performance behind Linney Head in Sandown's Classic Trial is difficult to forget. If a Derby contender is hiding in this afternoon's field, Chocolat De Meguro is the most likely candidate.

He has, at least, done nothing wrong this season. 'He won very convincingly at Brighton,' Geoff Lawson, Harwood's assistant, said yesterday, 'but I thought at the time that he'd beaten nothing. Life At Sea went and trotted up at Folkestone, but it's a long way from Brighton and Folkestone to Epsom.'

It is a long way too from Middleham, where Mister Baileys, the 2,000 Guineas winner and Derby favourite, is stabled. Lawson is one of many who doubts Mister Baileys' ability to see out the trip at Epsom. 'He's by Robellino,' he said, 'and the Robellinos we've had haven't stayed.' There will be no such problems for Chocolat De Meguro, though 'he might not be the greatest quickener'. Perhaps, after the success of Bob's Return at Lingfield last year, the race should be renamed the St Leger Trial.

Another Derby possibility may arise at Longchamp tomorrow, where Andre Fabre's Sunshack contests the Prix Hocquart. With Khalid Abdullah's British-based colts refusing to show even a hint of Classic form, Sunshack could yet emerge as his principal Derby hope, and thus the mount of Pat Eddery, Abdullah's retained jockey.

The feature race on the Longchamp card is the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (French 2,000 Guineas). Peter Chapple- Hyam's Turtle Island, denied a run in the 2,000 Guineas by the firm ground at Newmarket, has every chance of becoming the first British-trained winner of the race since 1981, but Lost World, Fadeyev and Psychobabble are strong rivals. The latter in particular merits respect, since he represents Stavros Niarchos and Francois Boutin, the owner/trainer combination which has won the last four runnings of the race.

Another Briton abroad is Paul Cole's Snurge, who will overtake Pebbles as the all-time leading British money-earner if he can beat two of his five rivals in the Group Two Gerling Preis at Cologne tomorrow. The record will be compensation if, as expected, the leading German animals Monsun and Protektor dominate the finish.

A final name to remember in racing's increasingly international scheme will be that of the winner of the Kentucky Derby, America's most prestigious Classic, at Churchill Downs this evening. After the success of Fabre's Arcangues in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, the European challenge for that dollars 3m event will be stronger than ever this year. Fitness permitting, the Kentucky Derby winner will surely lead the home defence.

The favourites in the Run For The Roses will be Holy Bull, the best three-year-old on the East Coast, and Brocco, last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, who carries the hopes of California and the colours of Cubby Broccoli, the Bond- movie director. Trackside workwatchers report that Brocco's chance is a good deal more plausible than his owner's films.