O’Brien loads Derby team with Benvenuto Cellini leading Epsom charge
Benvenuto Cellini leads Aidan O’Brien’s seven-horse Derby squad, with Ballydoyle’s depth shaping a race that still has 17 runners in play.
Aidan O’Brien arrives at Epsom Downs with the kind of Derby hand that can tilt the race before the stalls even open. Benvenuto Cellini, the Chester Vase winner, heads a seven-strong Ballydoyle team for Saturday’s Betfred Derby, a £2 million Classic over 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards that will pay £1 million to the winner.
Benvenuto Cellini has earned top billing the hard way. The Frankel colt, out of Breeders’ Cup winner Newspaperofrecord, powered clear in the G3 Chester Vase by 4 1/4 lengths and quickly moved to the head of the market. That sort of trial form matters at Epsom, where one decisive prep can reshape the whole betting picture. It also matters that O’Brien is not leaning on a single runner. Pierre Bonnard, Action, Causeway, Endorsement, Christmas Day and Proposition give Ballydoyle multiple ways to attack the race.
That depth is the real story. At one stage, 41 horses remained in contention for the Derby, including 21 trained in Ireland, and O’Brien had 17 of those names in his stable, with Joseph O’Brien holding four more. By the latest racecard, the field had been pared back to 17 runners, a reminder that simply getting to Epsom is part of the test. The final confirmation stage passed on June 1, and the race remains open enough for several trial winners to matter, not just the market leader.
O’Brien’s confidence is measured because the record already backs him up. Lambourn gave him an 11th Derby victory in 2025, after City Of Troy won in 2024, and that sequence has only reinforced Ballydoyle’s hold on the Classic. The stable’s spring form has been strong as well, with Chester again underlining how well the operation is firing when the trials begin to matter.
Even so, the Derby will not belong to one yard alone. Andrew Balding’s unbeaten Item, William Haggas’ Maltese Cross and Charlie Johnston’s Ancient Egypt remain among the chief threats, while James J Braddock has also stayed in the wider conversation. Constitution River, meanwhile, has been viewed as a possible Prix du Jockey Club horse in France rather than an Epsom runner.
What O’Brien has built is more than a favorite. It is a seven-horse tactical presence in Britain’s richest race, and that kind of depth can shape the pace, the pressure and the final climb to Tattenham Corner as much as raw talent can.
This article was produced by Prism’s automated news system from verified source data, official records, and press releases, then run through automated quality and moderation checks before publishing. The system is built and supervised by the people who set the standards it runs under. Read our full AI policy.
Did this article answer your question?
