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Moore will find it hard not to ride Delacroix in Derby, says O'Brien
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Mon 26 May 2025
Aidan O’Brien expects Ryan Moore will have a tricky time choosing his Betfred Derby ride – but Delacroix might be in pole position.
The Dubawi colt, who is out of the late and great Tepin, has won both starts this year, in the Ballysax Stakes and the Leopardstown Derby Trial, a route taken in the past by the likes of O’Brien giants such as Galileo and High Chaparral.
In the Ballysax he beat fellow Epsom entrant and stablemate Lambourn, who went on to take the Chester Vase in good style.
Added into the mix is winter Classic favourite The Lion In Winter, who may have failed to land a blow in the Dante but is far from out of the equation as his trainer has plenty of form for making a Derby winner out of a horse beaten in a trial.
Ryan Moore will have the choice of Aidan O’Brien’s Derby runners (Brian Lawless/PA)
Those are the options O’Brien anticipates stable jockey Moore will be presented with, with Delacroix seemingly considered the more persuasive choice at this stage.
“The three strongest horses at the moment for the Derby are Lambourn, the horse that won the Chester Vase, Delacroix, who won in Leopardstown, and the horse that ran in the Dante (The Lion In Winter). They look the three strongest,” O’Brien said.
“I would imagine Ryan has the choice between them. The horse in the Dante has to come on and everything has to go right for him, and it has gone right so far.
“Delacroix has done absolutely everything perfect so far. He has done everything right and his preparation has gone perfect.
“He’s by Dubawi, but his sister by Galileo (Grateful) won over a mile and six (Prix de Royallieu). He’s a total outcross, he’s out of a superstar mare and he’s by Dubawi so he’s a very exciting type of horse.
Giselle in winning action at Lingfield (John Walton/PA)
“They’ve another couple of weeks to go. I would imagine Ryan will find it hard not to ride him, but that doesn’t mean he won’t ride him.”
The Lion In Winter is 11-4 favourite for the Derby, with Delacroix a general 14-1. Lambourn is quoted at 16-1.
O’Brien also holds a strong hand for the Oaks, and expects Minnie Hauk, Giselle and Whirl to be key players from Ballydoyle.
He said: “In the Oaks, the filly that won at Chester (Minnie Hauk), the filly that won the Lingfield trial (Giselle) and the filly the filly that won the Musidora (Whirl) are the strongest ones.
“What will happen is that the lads will decide a week or ten days before. I would imagine those six are on that route.”
Minnie Hauk is O'Brien's shortest-priced Oaks challenger at 5-1.
Stanhope Gardens on course for Delacroix rematch
Meanwhile, Derby dream remains alive for Stanhope Gardens following his victory at Salisbury on Saturday.
Ralph Beckett’s Ghaiyyath colt had little trouble winning a three-runner race over a mile and promises to be even better over further.
He has just a neck to find with Aidan O’Brien’s Delacroix from their run in the Autumn Stakes last term, and that one finds only stablemate The Lion In Winter ahead of him in the betting for the Classic.
Delacroix edged out Stanhope Gardens last autumn
Stanhope Gardens is trained by Ralph Beckett, who also hopes to run Dante winner Pride Of Arras.
“There’s every chance he’ll run in the Derby,” said Jamie McCalmont, racing manager to part-owner Marc Chan of Marcstown Ltd.
“We need to see how he comes out of the race, but everyone seems keen to be heading to Epsom.
“He needs to be thriving, but hopefully that will be the case and hopefully we’ll be at Epsom.
“I felt very much afterwards that Hector Crouch’s body language spoke volumes. Sometimes jockeys can start talking about how good a horse is, but Hector just had a sparkle in his eye, he was like the cat who had just got the cream!”
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