Betfred Derby
Group 1, Epsom Downs 15:30 £2,000,000 guaranteed 3yo only, 1m, 4f, 10y
Tweet Saturday 6th June 2026

Christmas came out of season for Aidan O’Brien at Leopardstown, though not quite in the form anticipated. Pierre Bonnard, prominent in the Derby market, returned to action only to be found wanting when the race began to take shape. Yet the Ballysax Stakes still fell his way, courtesy of a colt whose name proved more prophetic than fanciful.

CHRISTMAS DAY (Camelot) gana el Ballysax Stakes (G3) en @LeopardstownRC, prueba en la que el favorito Pierre Bonnard fracasó ruidosamente al llegar séptimo sin fuerzas y con ello pierde su temprano favoritismo al Epsom Derby. pic.twitter.com/g19D5ebqp2

— Javier I. Farache (@jfarache) April 12, 2026

Endorsement set an honest tempo, with Pierre Bonnard travelling smoothly enough for Ryan Moore, reunited with the son of Camelot after injury had denied him the partnership late last term. For a time, the favourite looked to be moving within himself, but appearances can flatter. Three furlongs from home, Moore’s urgings grew more insistent, and the response was not forthcoming. The race slipped away from him with a quiet inevitability.

Instead, it was Christmas Day who picked up the pieces, and with them the prize, his late surge both decisive and telling. The performance lent substance to his Eyrefield Stakes victory at this track in October, suggesting that form had not only held but strengthened over the winter. He passed the long-time leader Endorsement by half a length at 11-1, with A

“The race kind of broke into two halves a little bit. It was a little bit of a stop-start race, but we were very happy,” said O’Brien.

“Wayne (Lordan, rider of Christmas Day) was very happy with his horse, he gave him a lovely ride. Ronan (Whelan, on Endorsement) was the same.

“Ryan said he would have preferred to be handier and in a little bit more of a rhythm. He ended up where he ended up and he said he was in on the bad ground, but he was very happy with the horse.

“He said he had two blows. We thought that that would happen.

“I was just worried coming here that all the horses were going to need it very badly and they all are having a blow or two, probably more than usual, but we’re delighted.

“The winner is a smart horse. He won a Group race around here with Jack (Cleary) and then we were going to a Group One with him next time in France and he got a temperature and didn’t get to go.

“Wayne said a mile and a quarter, he will stay further but he has pace and he quickened up. He’s very straightforward, he travels, he quickens. He’s by Camelot and he’s a lovely horse.

“He’s just one of those horses that is very uncomplicated. He’s kind of floating along under the radar the whole time.

“Ryan’s horse will leave the run well behind him, he’s a horse that is going to get a mile and a half well. We’re still happy to have got the run in to him.”

If the result offered reassurance about one colt, it posed questions about another. Yet O’Brien was keen to emphasise the broader plan, one rooted in preparation rather than immediate perfection.

On these horses coming back for the Derby Trial here month he added: “Obviously they mightn’t all come back, but Ryan’s horse definitely will come back. The plan was to come back here.

“I was a little bit worried during the week should we give him a little bit more time and then he’d end up going to the Derby with only one run.

“We just felt if he was going to the Derby he needed two runs, win lose or draw. He’s had his first run now, we’ll see him the next day and we’ll be able to assess him properly and then if he is to go to the Derby his preparation should have been fine.

“Obviously there are loads of trials coming up and we always try to split them up for Ryan to get a sit on them all individually and go from there.”

The market reacted with measured recalibration. Christmas Day, no longer overlooked, shortened into 16-1 for the Derby, while Pierre Bonnard retained favouritism, albeit at a more cautious 6-1, eased from 7-2.

Betfred Derby (Group 1)
£2,000,000 guaranteed, 3yo only, 1m 4f 10y, Class 1
85 remaining entries
Going:

(Form as of April 16)