Benvenuto Cellini handed stall 12 in Derby draw

It could prove a fitting omen if Benvenuto Cellini was able to provide Aidan O’Brien a record-extending 12th Betfred Derby from stall 12 in the Epsom Classic on Saturday.

The Chester Vase winner is one of four for the master of Ballydoyle among the 14 declarations for the mile and a half feature and a race O’Brien has proved unstoppable in recently, as he seeks a fourth successive win after the victories of Auguste Rodin (2023), City Of Troy (2024) and Lambourn (2025).

Benvenuto Cellini will be joined by stablemates Pierre Bonnard (eight), Action (11) and Christmas Day (five), with juvenile Group One winner Pierre Bonnard held in the highest regard despite being yet to strike this term and the latter pair arriving having finished second and third respectively in the Dante.

Speaking at the Derby draw held at The Peninsula Hotel in London, Coolmore’s UK representative Kevin Buckley said: “I think Benvenuto Cellini is a worthy favourite and we would be happy enough with his draw in 12 which is the same one Australia and Serpentine won out of so you would have to be happy.

“I’ve always had a personal soft spot for Pierre Bonnard, but I was equally impressed with what Benvenuto Cellini did at Chester and I thought that was the perfect prep for the Derby.

“It is interesting Christmas Day is drawn five and that is the same stall his sire Camelot came out of when he won the Derby. He was third in the Dante behind Action, who is closely-related to Lambourn and won the Derby last year, so we have some nice runners this year and we’re looking forward to it.”

The winner at York that day was Item, who is one of two in the race for Andrew Balding alongside A Taste Of Glory (seven), and is regarded by the bookmakers as the most likely challenger to the Ballydoyle-trained favourite.

Item will exit from stall three that New Approach won from in 2008, as the Kingsclere handler attempts to replicate the achievement of his late father Ian who won the Derby with the famous Mill Reef in 1971.

The trainer’s wife Anna Lisa Balding said: “The Dante was a good place to start and you can do nothing about the draw, it’s all about what you do with it.

“He’s drawn three but is in great form. I think he looked pretty good in the Dante and everyone was bigging up the race before the race. He really delivered on the day and finished strong. He might have been a little bit green in front so hopefully he will have learned plenty.

“I suppose the one thing for us is we haven’t quite had the conditions weather-wise to have done as much with him on the grass at home that we would have liked to have done.

“It is Andrew’s dream to win the Derby, he’s only 54 and has a few more years to do it, but he will keep trying and you never know.”

Lingfield Derby Trial winner Maltese Cross will be just a fifth Derby runner for William Haggas who won the race with Shaamit 30 year’s ago. He will exit stall one often referred to as the ‘coffin box’ but successfully navigated by the imperious City Of Troy in 2024.

Maltese Cross made it two from two for the year when edging out Ralph Beckett’s Bay Of Brilliance (nine) at Lingfield and they will lock horns again on the Surrey Downs, with Charlie Johnston’s Ancient Egypt (10) another British-trained contender having impressed in the Newmarket Stakes.

Also heading to Epsom on a high is Joseph O’Brien’s James J Braddock (13) who having downed the aforementioned Pierre Bonnard at Leopardstown, will seek to land another telling blow in a race his handler won twice as a jockey aboard Camelot (2012) and Australia (2014).

Jane Chapple-Hyam and Faye Bramley will both try to become the first female trainer to win the Derby when saddling Balzac (two) and Rebel Rocker (14) respectively, with the field completed by Karl Burke’s 4.3million guineas yearling Poker (four) and Richard Hannon’s Alderman (six), who both head into the race as maidens.