Leopardstown preview: “Don’t lose faith in Pierre yet," says O'Brien
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Sat 9 May 2026
Pierre Bonnard is given the opportunity to restore his reputation in the Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday, live on Racing TV.
The Camelot colt went into his winter quarter at the top of ante-post lists for the premier Classic at Epsom after signing off a productive juvenile campaign with a Group One success in France.
Aidan O’Brien’s charge was unsurprisingly hot favourite to make a successful start to his three-year-old campaign in the Ballysax Stakes here four weeks ago, but his supporters were left counting their losses as he finished a well-beaten sixth under Ryan Moore.
Benvenuto Cellini and Constitution River stormed to impressive trial successes at Chester this week, but the Ballydoyle handler believes Pierre Bonnard is anything but a forlorn hope for Epsom on June 6.
“Don’t lose faith in Pierre yet,” O’Brien said during a recent press morning at Ballydoyle.
“Things just went wrong and it was just a start off (in the Ballysax). He had to have two runs (before Epsom). If we were being very cautious we wouldn’t have run him and just given him a racecourse gallop, but you’re always better to run if you can.
“He’s going to go back to Leopardstown and we think he’s going to leave that run well behind him.
“He’s a big, powerful horse and we think he’ll come back.”
This year’s Leopardstown Derby Trial is an all O’Brien affair, with Aidan also saddling Ballysax runner-up Endorsement and outsider Straight Up, while his sons Joseph and Donnacha are represented by James J Braddock and Shaihaan respectively.
The latter was second to Pierre Bonnard in a Dundalk maiden last year and also finished fourth behind Hawk Mountain in the Beresford Stakes, so he was not winning out of turn when breaking his duck at the Curragh in late March.
Donnacha O’Brien said: “Obviously it’s a big step up in class, but he was impressive the first day so I think he’s warranted a go at something like this.
“I had originally planned to go down the Gallinule Stakes/Irish Derby route with him, but some of the team at Al Shaqab Racing were keen to give him a crack at this and we stuck him in the Epsom Derby, just in case he was going to be an Epsom horse.
“Everything has gone according to plan, he’s in good form and he’s worked well.”
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