GREEN OF HEARTS

Aga Khan's silks will ensure Epsom crowd will be happy to cheer a foreign triumph

- BY DAVID YATES

CROWD noise for a French-trained Derby winner struggles to compete with the sound of worms poking their heads through the Epsom turf and the clock that ticks in the members' bar.

But cover your ears if Midak beats his 18 opponents for the colts' Classic this afternoon.

Jockey Mickaël Barzalona will wear the cherished silks -green, with red epaulets and green cap of the Aga Khan, the legendary owner-breeder, who passed away at 88 in February having woven his name into Derby lore.

The 2025 running honours the man first successful with the incomparable Shergar (right), the 10-length winner of 1981, and lastly with Harzand, the cherished winner for Dermot Weld and the late Pat Smullen in 2016, with victories for Shahrastani (1986), Kahyasi (1988) and Sinndar (2000) inbetween.