Graikos, who transferred to the Godolphin string from Andre Fabre’s yard last season, finished fifth behind Magistretti in the Tote Dante Stakes at York on his only start this season.

New South Wales, who was with John Oxx last year, has had just the one start this year too, finishing sixth of seven runners behind star French colt Dalakhani in the Group One Prix Lupin.

Both colts worked this morning and Dettori said: “I was pleased to hear that we will be having a runner.

“I will ride either Graikos or New South Wales, so I am happy with that, and the boss will decide which one.”

The light rain that fell over the south-east of England today will aid the chances of the Godolphin colts, who both seem to prefer some give in the ground.

A total of 4mm fell at Epsom during the morning, leaving clerk of the course Andrew Cooper to conclude that the going, officially good, was “almost perfect”.

With the forecast now for dry weather until the start of racing on Friday, Cooper is hopeful that conditions will be ideal.

“At the moment it is the sort of ground you would want it to be on Derby Day,” he said.

“I walked the course yesterday with Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen and we met Gerard Butler going the other way round – all three of them told me they thought it was perfect, and I was happy to hear that.

“Last night we were thinking we wanted about a quarter of an inch between now and Friday, and we got half of it this morning.

“We put a drop of water on last night in places that were tightening up a little bit but I would have thought that will be it now.

“It is just on the easy side of good in a couple of places on the ’Friday ground’ now after the rain, but it is a very quick-drying and well-draining course.

“Ideally, if I could choose the ground for the Derby it would be good, good to firm in places. The important thing is to have safe ground – Dermot Weld used that word yesterday a lot and I know it is important to Aidan (O’Brien) too.

“We know in our job that we can’t please everybody – we have a target as to what ground we would like and everything we do is geared towards producing that.”

The final preparations were being made at Epsom today, with the additional Tote and toilet facilities arriving on lorries, as cleaners set about sprucing up the grandstands.

As usual, the running rail has been moved to accommodate a six-yard strip of virgin turf on the inside of the course for use on Derby Day.

“You’ve got to leave a fair strip – if you’ve got three or four horses fighting out a finish you need to have them all racing on the same ground,” explained head groundsman Nigel Thornton.

“I remember High-Rise winning coming all the way from London Road on the worn ground down the middle – it was amazing.

“What people always seem to forget about the mile-and-a-half course is that it is a downhill all the way from the six-furlong marker to the one-furlong marker. The first half of the race is a heck of a climb, but after that they are just rolling down until the last half-furlong.

“I’ve been around the track with my stick today and I think it’s just right. With a dry day tomorrow we can let it all settle down and it will be lovely.”

William Hill have clipped the price of Dermot Weld’s Sagitta 2000 Guineas winner Refuse To Bend today.

The colt is now 100-30 from 3-1 to complete the Classic double after some good reports from jockey Pat Smullen about his latest piece of work.

The same firm also report money for Clive Brittain’s Chester Vase winner Dutch Gold, who is now 16-1 from 22-1.

Vodafone Derby betting:

William Hill: 11-4 Brian Boru, 3-1 Refuse To Bend, 7-2 Alamshar, 9-1 Alberto Giacometti, 14-1 Kris Kin, 16-1 Dutch Gold, The Great Gatsby, 20-1 Norse Dancer, Shield, 22-1 Magistretti, 25-1 bar.

Coral: 5-2 Brian Boru, 7-2 Alamshar, Refuse To Bend, 8-1 Alberto Giacometti, 14-1 Kris Kin, 16-1 The Great Gatsby, Dutch Gold, Shield, Norse Dancer, 20-1 Franklins Garden, 25-1 bar.

Ladbrokes: 3-1 Brian Boru, 7-2 Alamshar, Refuse To Bend, 10-1 Alberto Giacometti, 14-1 Kris Kin, 16-1 Dutch Gold, Norse Dancer, The Great Gatsby, 20-1 Magistretti, Shield, 25-1 bar.