Irish Derby set for Ballydoyle rematch between Benvenuto Cellini and Christmas Day
Benvenuto Cellini and Christmas Day renew their Ballydoyle rivalry at the Curragh, with Ryan Moore and Ronan Whelan’s rides hinting at the yard’s pecking order.
Eight runners were declared for the Irish Derby at the Curragh, setting up a 1 1/2-mile rematch between Ballydoyle stablemates Benvenuto Cellini and Christmas Day on Saturday, June 28. Ryan Moore stayed with Benvenuto Cellini, while Ronan Whelan kept the mount on Christmas Day, a split that underlined how Aidan O’Brien has framed the race inside his own yard as much as against the opposition.
The pairing carries the weight of their last meeting. Christmas Day arrived off a 2 3/4-length win in the Epsom Derby and has won four of his last five starts, with his third in the Group 2 Dante Stakes at York in May showing he was already close to the top of the Classic tree. Benvenuto Cellini, meanwhile, went to Epsom as the 3-1 favorite but finished 10th of 14 before being declared a non-runner after stewards found his near hind leg had caught on the shelf in the starting stall when the gates opened.
That episode still mattered on the betting side. Bets on Benvenuto Cellini were refunded, and winning bets on Christmas Day carried a Rule 4 deduction of 25p in the pound. Now the colt who lost his Derby chance on a technicality gets a direct shot at reversing the script, with the Curragh asking whether his Chester Vase win on May 6 was the start of a Classic climb or merely a footnote to a ruined Epsom afternoon.
O’Brien sent a deep bench after the race. Pierre Bonnard and Action, both Epsom runners, stood their ground, while Joseph O’Brien’s James J Braddock, third at Epsom beaten 5 1/4 lengths, and Donnacha O’Brien’s Shaihaan joined the line-up. Owen Burrows’ unbeaten Raaheeb, who won the Classic Trial at Sandown by 3 1/4 lengths and is a full brother to Baaeed and Hukum, also remained in. Richard Hannon’s Bunyola Bay completed the eight after landing the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Gowran Classic at Gowran Park in early June.
The broader stakes sit squarely with Aidan O’Brien, who was chasing a record-extending 18th Irish Derby and a fourth straight win in the race. After Lambourn completed the Epsom-Irish Derby double in 2025, beating stablemate Serious Contender by three-quarters of a length, Ballydoyle again reached the Curragh with the division’s biggest question inside its own ranks: whether Christmas Day could confirm Epsom, or whether Benvenuto Cellini would turn a troubled Derby into the season’s more lasting Classic form line.
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