The 2025 Betfred Derby: your ultimate guide and tips

There is no dispute that Dubawi is one of the great stallions of the modern era, but the pocket rocket’s CV still has one huge omission: no Derby winner. 

It was 20 years ago that Dubawi himself went off a well-fancied 5-1 chance to win the premier Classic but, like his Dad before him (Dubai Millennium), he didn’t get home and ended up finishing a distant third behind Motivator.

Dubawi has gone to sire many champions over a range of trips (as has the runner-up that year, Walk In The Park, over Jumps) but the Epsom Classic continues to elude him. 

The closest any of his nine runners in the great race have come to winning is fifth and high hopes that Ancient Wisdom would put the record straight for him last year came to nothing, as  he trailed home eighth.

Dubawi’s chances of siring a Derby winner are diminishing because, now 23, his stallion career must be nearing the finishing line, although Muley was 26 when he sired 1840 winner Little Wonder.

The Darley titan has the favourite for Saturday showpiece Delacroix. His credentials are there for all to see and Ryan Moore has chosen him over The Lion In Winter and Lambourn.

None of the past four Derby winners have been sired by a winner of the race, whereas the previous five all had been.

A final field of 19 has been declared - the biggest since Kris Kin won in 2003. And with plenty of rain around, a soft ground edition is a possibility for the first time this century.

The draw will play a part and with it being made at Epsom's six-screen cinema, Picturehouse, I've created a Popcorn rating for each runner. 

🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 Blockbuster performance on way.

🍿🍿🍿🍿 Make sure you pay close attention.

🍿🍿🍿 Worth a watch.

🍿🍿  Unlikely to be a triumphant ending.

🍿  You may want your money back.

Trainer: Owen Burrows. Official rating: 86. Form on soft or heavier: --. Sponsor’s odds: 100-1. 

The silks of owner Ahmad Al Shaikh (Green Team Racing) are becoming a common sight in the Derby. 

His Khalifa Sat was second to Serpentine at 50-1 in 2020, while Hoo Ya Mal was runner-up to Desert Crown under David Probert at 150-1 in 2022, a year after Youth Spirit had lined up on the back of a victory in the Chester Vase. 

And last year, he was responsible for the fourth (Deira Mile) and fifth (Sayedaty Sadaty). 

Al Wasl Storm is less well qualified but has already proved a shrewd purchase, with the grey changing hands for just €7,000 as a foal. 

He was unraced at two but booked his slot at Epsom by making all in a 1m 4f maiden at Chester this month. 

Derby runners need to have a rating of 80 or higher by the end of May to be eligible to run, so Al Wasl Storm has just about ticked that qualification box. He looks way out of his depth, but, then again, so did Hoo Ya Mal. Probert will be hoping lightning can strike twice. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿

Fancy stat: Ruler Of The World’s Derby victory in 2013 was the most recent by a colt who had been unraced as a two year old. Commander In Chief (1993), Morston (1973) and Phil Drake (1955) are the only other three not to have raced as juveniles since 1946. 

Trainers: John & Thady Gosden. Official rating: 111. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 12-1. 

Never mind the possibility of Dubawi, 23, siring his first Derby winner. How about the broodmare, Legerete, having her first winner of the race at the age of 21? 

Few of her previous ten offspring have made much impact but seven have been winners and Damysus, a striking son of Frankel with his distinctive facial features, looks like being the best of the lot for owners, Wathnan, who are increasingly trying to find a place at racing’s top table. 

Damysus achieved little when winning on his debut at Southwell in December, but he’s booked his spot in the Derby with placed efforts in both the Classic Trial, at Sandown, and Dante. 

He shaped well when third to Swagman in the former,  tracking the winner through but being unable to pick up so strongly in the closing stages. And he built on that at York this month when staying on well to beat all bar Pride Of Arras, who burst clear on the opposing flank. 

Damysus hung a little left in the closing stages, which is a niggle given the contours at Epsom, but the way he kept on suggests moving up another quarter of a mile will unlock even more improvement. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿

Fancy stat: Horatia was a record-breaking 25 when she produced the 1806 victor Paris. The youngest broodmare to strike was Betty’s Secret, who gave birth to Secreto (1984) when four. 

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien. Official rating: 116. Form on soft or heavier: 2. Odds: 3-1

Solid. Likeable. Dependable. All three descriptions are applicable to Delacroix, and Ryan Moore has chosen him over The Lion In Winter and Lambourn.

But does Delacroix have the wow factor required to win the biggest race of them all, and how hung up should we get on his sire, Dubawi, having such a poor record in the race (see rambling introduction and graph)? 

Delacroix did not do much wrong as a two-year-old, without stamping himself as being out of the ordinary. He edged out Stanhope Gardens by a neck in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket, but that victory was sandwiched in between defeats at Irish Champions Weekend (behind Green Impact) and in the Futurity Stakes at Doncaster (at the hands of Hotazhell). 

This term, he has won successive Derby trials at Leopardstown, giving 3lb and a 2¼-length beating to Lambourn on the first occasion with Puppet Master back in fourth. He was well placed in steadily run races on each occasion – something that can be a huge advantage at Leopardstown - and the form lacks some substance, for all that Lambourn and Puppet Master have since won other Derby trials. 

And then there’s a question mark about whether a truly-run mile and a half will suit a horse named after French Romantic painter Eugène Delacroix. 

He’s given the impression he will stay well, but his victories this year have been in tactical contests where he was entitled to be strong at the finish. His dam, Tepin, was a champion miler, and we know his sire, and grandsire before him, didn’t get home at Epsom. His half-sister, Grateful, was a Group One winner over 1m6f, but she was by five-time Derby-winning sire Galileo, and so that may be a red herring. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 

Fancy stat: Ryan Moore is the most successful current jockey in the Derby. He has won on Workforce (2010), Ruler Of The World (2013), Auguste Rodin (2023) and City Of Troy (2024). Steve Donoghue is the only jockey to have ridden three consecutive Derby winners - Humorist (1921), Captain Cuttle (1922) and Papyrus (1923) - and Moore has the chance to emulate him.

Trainer: Charlie Johnston. Official rating: 107. Form on soft or heavier: 32. Odds: 200-1. 

Ahmad Al Shaikh’s second challenger did far too much, too soon when a distant fourth on his return in the Feilden Stakes at Newmarket in April. 

I’d be inclined to put a line through that run and judge him on his efforts last autumn when he was runner-up in the Zetland Stakes (split Starzinyoureyes and Shackleton) and Criterium de Saint-Cloud last season (won by Tennessee Stud). 

However, the front-runner clearly needs a huge personal best if he is to figure. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 

Fancy stat: Teenager Billy Loughnane, 19, rides. The youngest winning jockeys of the race have been John Parsons, 16 years old (Caractacus 1862); Lester Piggott 18 years old (Never Say Die 1954); Walter Swinburn, 19 years old (Shergar 1981); Mickael Barzalona, 19 years old (Pour Moi 2011); and Joseph O’Brien, 19 years old (Camelot 2012). 

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien. Official rating:  109. Form on soft or heavier: 1. Odds: 12-1. 

Looks a thorough stayer and I’d imagine the St Leger, at Doncaster in September, is already ringed in his calendar. He's a best-priced 10-1 to win at Town Moor.

He was strong at the finish when landing the Chester Vase last time, although elements of that success were not pretty and a length-and-a-half defeat of Lazy Griff, who was making his return and supposedly not at his peak, hardly makes him stand out from the crowd. 

The son of Australia (easy winner of the Derby in 2014) had previously been put in his place by his stablemate, Delacroix, in the Ballysax, when in receipt of 3lb, although that steadily run ten-furlong affair was never going to show him in the best light. 

There’s more than a suspicion he has a bit of a lazy streak in him, and as such it is probably no coincidence that he wore blinkers on his final start as a juvenile despite having won two minor races beforehand. 

It's hardly surprising his price had contracted this week, though, with underfoot conditiions easing at Epsom. That can only help bring his stamina reserves into play.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 🍿 

Fancy stat: Aidan O’Brien has saddled 101 runners in The Derby, with a record 10 successes. 48 Derby winners have been sired by horses who have also won the Derby, the first being the 1798 hero Sir Harry, a son of Sir Peter Teazle (won the Derby in 1787). Serpentine (2020) is the most recent, being by the 2001 Derby victor Galileo, who was also trained by O’Brien.

Trainer: Charlie Johnston. Official rating: 105. Form on soft or heavier: 3. Odds: 100-1. 

Useful two-year-old who upped his game when chasing home the racefit Lambourn in the Chester Vase on his return. 

Charlie Johnston said afterwards that Lazy Griff had missed a piece of work in the build-up and that it was “touch and go if we'd get here”. 

The trainer calculated that Lazy Griff was only 80 per cent fit and that either the English, Irish or German Derby would be on the cards. You cannot blame connections for rolling the dice and going for the biggest prize of all.

He’s a huge price, relative to Lambourn, when you factor in Johnston’s post-race comments, and well worth considering for each-way purposes, especially with those firms offering extra places. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿🍿

Fancy stat: Christophe Soumillon will belatedly be having his fifth Derby ride. His record reads: 2000 (12th on Broche); 2003 (12th on Alberto Giacometti); 2006 (fifth on Visindar); and 2011 (tenth on Seville). He has ridden the French Derby winner on four occasions.

Trainer: Francis-Henri Graffard. Official rating: --. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 16-1. 

This year's race is named in honour of the Aga Khan, the owner of five Derby winners like his grandfather before him, and Midak will carry his famous green silks after being supplemented for £75,000 on Monday.

Unraced at two, he won two minor races in the spring before being upped in class and landing the Group Three Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud last month.

The chestnut got the run of things that day and the form looks nothing out of the ordinary (at least in terms of winning a Derby) but he's already proven over as far as 11 furlongs - his dam was a stout stayer and her sire was 2000 Derby hero Sinndar - I don't imagine that is just sentiment as to why he's being thrown in to the mix.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 

Fancy stat: The Aga Khan III won with Blenheim (1930), Baharm (1935), Mahmoud 1936), My Love (1948) and Tulyar (1952). Aga Khan IV (grandson of the III) took his tally to five in 2016 when Harzand was successful, having already won with Shergar (1981), Shahrastani (1986), Kahyasi (1988) and Sinndar (2000). 

Trainer: Henri-Francois Devn. Official rating: --. Form on soft or heavier: 1. Odds: 50-1. 

Looks a fairly ambitious supplementary entry at first glance, although the £75,000 resembles pocket change for an operation like Juddmonte and he's interesting at outlandish odds.

New Ground was unbeaten as a juvenile, winning two minoir events, but been beaten in both his races this season, including in Listed company last time. But delve a little deeper and you can see why the dice is being rolled.

On his comeback, he finished a length third to Cualificar over nine furlongs at Longchamp, getting outspeeded in the closing stages. The winner has franked that form by since finished runner-up in the French Derby.

And last time he was a big eye-catcher when a staying-on third at Chantilly, having been anchored in rear for much of the way. He had little chance the way things unfolded and was in front soon after the finish.

The first two home at Chantilly have since made little impact in the French Derby but the fourth was beaten little more than a length in that Classic, so you can read the form both ways.

Connections of New Ground reckon he has the attributes to raise his game at Epsom, pointing to him being a  "medium-sized, scopey colt, and a very balanced horse" who will relish moving up in trip. At 50-1, I'll have to have a little something on him.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 

Fancy stat: French-trained challengers have been successful ten times, with Pour Moi (2011) the first French raider to score since Empery in 1976. 

Trainer: Richard Hannon. Official rating: 98. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 150-1. 

Lost his maiden tag at Southwell in April before finishing a creditable third in the Lingfield Derby Trial but would be making up the numbers. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿

Fancy stat: Because of the way the genetic transmission of coat colour works, most thoroughbreds are bay or brown. Of the 246 (including one set of dead-heaters) winners of The Derby, 180 have been bay or brown, 60 have been chestnut, four have been grey and two have been registered as black. Nightime Dancer is bay.

Trainers: John & Thady Gosden. Official rating: 107. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 25-1. 

Has only got a Yarmouth maiden win to his name, from five starts, but his price masks the fact that he was beaten just over three lengths when fifth in the Dante and that he finished a place ahead of The Lion In Winter. 

The grey was doing all his best work at the finish at York after looking ungainly. He gave the impression an extra couple of furlongs will suit, and first-time cheekpieces may also help him.

That was only his second start for Team Gosden, having been trained by Sir Michael Stoute last year, and was a marked improvement on his dull comeback run in the Feilden Stakes. 

His efforts last season included him plugging on to be creditable third behind Delacroix and Stanhope Gardens in the Autumn Stakes. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿

Fancy stat: The last Derby winner to wear blinkers was Aboyeur in 1913. Cheek-pieces are a much more recent innovation and Ruler Of The World became the first Derby winner to sport them in 2013.  The four greys to have won the Derby have been Gustavus (1821), Tagalie (1912), Mahmoud (1936) and Airborne (1946). 

Trainer: Ralph Beckett. Official rating: 115. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 5-1. 

The only unbeaten colt in the field burst into the Derby picture with his superb victory in the Dante. 

The longest-striding horse in the race – as per the RaceiQ data – went from fifth to first in the penultimate furlong and ended up winning by just over a length from Damysus, with Wimbledon Hawkeye (third), Nightwalker (fifth) and The Lion In Winter (sixth) being among the support cast. 

You can possibly quibble with the form and winning time – little more than five lengths covered the first ten home - but it was difficult not to be taken by the way he accelerated clear and other positives were the way he squeezed through a narrow gap to challenge, given his inexperience, and that jockey Rossa Ryan was almost easing him up at the finish. He has since told Racing TV viewers that a wonderful temperament the colt has. 

Given he was having only the second run of his life – and his first for nine months after his yard’s first 17 pattern runners this year had been beaten – it was a hugely taking display, and it would be churlish to try and pick faults. 

Pride Of Arras had made a winning debut in a mile maiden at Sandown, and it’s worth noting the stable’s Westover won the same race first time out in 2021 before going on to finish second in the Derby. Beckett is adamant that Pride Of Arras has more speed than that horse. 

Pride Of Arras seemed to be going nowhere between three out and two out at Sandown, probably owing to greenness, but he stayed on strongly and ended up winning in commanding fashion. 

The Derby trip? The New Bay colt’s pedigree points to it being little problem, with his three siblings all being middle-distance performers. Two of them also boast winning form at Epsom, which also seems a good omen. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 🍿🍿

Fancy stat: Ralph Beckett's two Derby runners - Pride Of Arras and Stanhope Gardens - have drawn the two stalls (two and 16) which has never previously produced a winner of the race. By my reckoning, the odds on that happening were 341-1. Eleven Dante winners have gone on to win the Derby since 1960:  Desert Crown (2022), Golden Horn (2015), Authorized (2007), Motivator (2005), North Light (2004), Benny The Dip (1997), Erhaab (1994), Reference Point (1987), Shahrastani (1986), Shirley Heights (1978), St Paddy (1960). And  Workforce (2010) won at Epsom after being second at York.

Trainer: James Owen. Official rating: 86. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 200-1. 

Trailed home last of six in the Lingfield Derby Trial, having previously beaten Al Wasl Storm in a maiden at the same track. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿

Fancy stat: Terimon, trained by Clive Brittain, went off at 500-1 when second to Nashwan in 1989.

Trainer: Charlie Appleby. Official rating: 121. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 7-2. 

There’s no doubting the ability of the 2000 Guineas winner but will he stay?

Many felt he got first run on Field Of Gold in the first Classic of the season, although he was behind that horse at halfway (they raced on opposite flanks) before being quicker than him in furlongs five, six and seven. 

Ruling Court stuck on gamely to fend off the subsequent easy Irish Guineas winner, with Shadow Of Light, triumphant in the Middle Park and Dewhurst last year, third and Wimbledon Hawkeye (since a good third in the Dante) well adrift in sixth. His official rating of 121 is 6lb higher than Pride Of Arras, the Dante winner, and 5lb higher than Delacroix. 

So, his sectionals and form stack up, but what will happen when he goes into unknown territory beyond a mile? 

He settles well enough and the fact that he was not stopping at Headquarters is encouraging, while his pedigree also offers hope, given he’s a son of American champion Justify (responsible for last year’s Derby winner City Of Troy) and is out of a mare sired by High Chaparral, the Derby winner in 2002. Ten furlongs should be no bother for him. Twelve? 

The forecast rain will not help him and having initially made him my top Popcorn rating, I've knocked him down to second.

Appleby’s first Derby winner, Masar, was also having his first race beyond a mile, having run in the Guineas (finished third) beforehand. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿 🍿

Fancy stat: Thirty-seven Derby winners have previously captured the first colt’s British Classic of the season, the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. Smolensko won both Classics in 1813 and Camelot (2012) is the most recent to do so. 

Trainers: Simon & Ed Crisford. Official rating: 105 . Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 100-1.

Sprung a 40-1 surprise in the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom in April, although the last horse to go on and win the Deby was back in 1939. Seemed to have his limits exposed when eighth in the Dante. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 

Fancy stat: Harry Davies has his first ride in the race. Three jockeys since 2000 have won the race at the first attempt: Mickael Barzalona (in 2011 on Pour Moi), Padraig Beggy (in 2017 on Wings Of Eagles) and Emmet McNamara (in 2020 on Serpentine). McNamara has not ridden in the race since.

Trainer: Ralph Beckett. Official rating: 111. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 16-1 

We did not learn much about him when he beat two inferior rivals in a minor race over a mile at Salisbury at the weekend. It was pretty much an extended racecourse gallop with connections picking up the best part of £5,000 into the bargain. 

That was Stanhope Garden’s first outing since he’d had a great tussle with Delacroix on soft ground in the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket in the autumn. He came off second best that day but pulled four lengths clear of Nightwalker. 

The chestnut son of Ghaiyyath should have no problem staying beyond a mile. His uncle is Romsdal, placed in the Derby and St Leger in 2014, and one of his half-brothers (Corky) is proven up to a mile and a half. 

If you are a fan of Delacroix, then you’ve got to at least have a saver on him given the gulf in their prices. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿

Fancy stat: There are only three letters of the alphabet with which a Derby winner’s name has not begun - U(Umiddad was beaten a head in 1943), X and Z (Zionist was second in 1935). The most popular initialletter is S with 44 triumphs, and the most successful number of letters is eight, with 46 victories. 

Trainer: Joseph O’Brien. Official rating: 109. Form on soft or heavier: 31. Odds: 40-1. 

If one O’Brien doesn’t beat you, then another just might. Joseph, son of Aidan, also has a Coolmore-owned colt to go to war with, as he seeks to join an elite band to have both ridden and trained a Derby winner. 

Tennessee Stud was bred by Joseph’s mother, Ann Marie, and was owned by her for much of last summer, so there would be delirious scenes if the son of Wootton Bassett were to steal the show. 

He stuck on gamely when runner-up to Hotazhell in the Beresford last year and subsequently won the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud, although there was an element of him grabbing some low-lying fruit that day. 

Tennessee Stud was a drifter in the betting and ran accordingly when a well-held third behind Delacroix on his return in the Derby Trial at Leopardstown this month. I would not be surprised if he took a big jump forward but, equally, you need a vivid imagination to see him turning the tables.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 

Fancy stat: Four men have both ridden and trained a Derby winner - Matt Stephenson, John Forth, Robert Sherwood and Harry Wragg. The last-named partnered Felstead (1928), Blenheim (1930) and Watling Street (1942) to victory and then trained Psidium (1961) to win the premier Classic. Joseph O'Brien seeks to emulate them after winning on Camelot in 2012.

Trainer: Aidan O’Brien. Official rating: 117. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 8-1. 

The past two Derby winners, the O’Brien-trained pair of Auguste Rodin and City of Troy, bounced back with a bang after disappointing in their previous races and as a consequence many will no doubt forgive The Lion In Winter for his underwhelming comeback run in the Dante at York this month when he went off odds-on but could finish only sixth to Pride Of Arras. 

O’Brien had warned beforehand that the colt “will come on a ton” for the run but, disconcertingly, he got stewed up beforehand and was lit up in the early stages. Those are traits he will not be able to afford at Epsom, especially from the widest stall of all.

His supporters will cling to his defeat of Wimbledon Hawkeye and Ruling Court in a record time over 7f in the Acomb Stakes at York last summer. 

He flashed plenty of speed that day, although his pedigree points to him staying a mile-and-a-half all day long. His sire, the outstanding Sea The Stars, won the Derby and Arc in 2009, while his dam, What A Home, was a smart performer at up to 1m 6f. 

Not that breeding is ever an equal science. Sea Le Venus, a sister of The Lion In Winter trained by William Haggas, was beaten in a handicap off a mark of 57 when last seen in action. 

Ryan Moore  prefers Delacroix, so Colin Keane, third on White Birch in 2023, comes in for the ride.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 🍿

Fancy stat: O'Brien has had 27 runners in the Dante and none have ever gone on to win the Derby.

Trainer: Saeed Bin Suroor. Official rating: 112. Form on soft or heavier: --. Odds: 33-1. 

It seems unlikely Saeed Bin Suroor will be marking 30 years of training for Godolphin in Britain with a second Derby winner. Indeed, one wonders whether the man who saddled Lammtarra to victory at Epsom in 1995 will ever have another Group One winner for them given the limited firepower he is afforded these days. 

Bin Suroor had only 18 winners in Britain last year and has had just one from only nine runners this term. 

Tornado Alert is among the best horses in his yard and led for a long way in the 2000 Guineas before fading to finish fourth, when having his first run on turf. He’s related to stayers but seems to have inherited plenty of speed from his sire, Too Darn Hot.

Popcorn rating: 🍿🍿 

Fancy stat: Bin Suroor won with his first Derby runner, Lammtarra, 30 years ago. His subsequent 24 runners have all ben beaten.

Trainer: Raphael E Freirie. Official rating: 105. Form on soft or heavier: 1. Odds: 66-1. 

He’s got Epsom in his blood, with his unraced dam being by Sea The Stars out of Oaks winner Eswarah. 

Tuscan Hills ploughed through the mud to win a Listed prize over a mile at Pontefract last year, which hinted at stamina reserves, but he seemed to barely get home when seventh in the Dante.

His future entries also include the St James’s Palace Stakes. 

Popcorn rating: 🍿

Fancy stat: Will be Amo Racing's fifth runner in the race since 2021. Their record reads: 2021 (Mojo Star second); 2023 (King Of Steel second); 2024 (Dallas Star 14th and Mr Hampstead 15th).

Ruling Court will take some stopping if his stamina lasts out, although the likely soft ground is making me nervous. Pride Of Arras slips in to the "could be anything" category and his middle-distamce/soft-ground pedigree is seductive.

Among the big outsiders, Lazy Griff catches the eye. His run behind Lambourn in the Chester Vase  needs marking up given that his trainer is adamant he was not at his peak, and there's an outlandish 125-1 available in places. He would be my each-way pick.

1 PRIDE OF ARRAS. 2 RULING COURT. 3  LAZY GRIFF.