Poet from Derby perhaps removing central triplet (6)
I believe the answer is:
horace
'poet' is the definition.
(Roman poet)
'from derby perhaps removing central triplet' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'from' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is present in the answer.
'derby' could be 'race' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'race' is found in the answer.
A single letter 'h' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for horace that I've seen before include "Latin ode writer" , "Boy's name - Roman poet" , "Roman poet; -- Walpole" , "Roman poet and satirist" , "Roman lyric poet, d.8BC -- a chore (anag)" .)