Betfred Derby

If you've had reason to chat to Stephen Hillen at the sales you will know that he's an agent who is measured to the point of coming across as though he has ice running through his veins. Had he and his wife Becky been at Epsom on Saturday to watch the horse they bred win the Derby they may have felt pretty icy, too, but sensibly they were watching from afar in the warmer climes of Mallorca.  To the suggestion that he doesn't let himself get carried away by too...

And so it comes down to this: 14 runners are set to go to post for the Betfred Derby, which, with a newly elevated prize fund of £2 million, is the co-richest race in Britain in 2026. Five British-breds will take on six horses born in Ireland, two in Germany and one in France, with their origins representing the broad spectrum, from a homebred for one-mare owner Jennifer Dorey to four colts representing the most powerful bloodstock operation in the world, Coolmore. Ten of them were sold either as a...

'The Home of the Original' is the Jockey Club's tagline for Epsom, and that original is of course the Derby, which for almost 250 years has inspired the hopes and dreams of owners and breeders across England and beyond.  To a degree, the race has become the preserve of the major owner-breeder operations: nine of the last ten runnings of the Derby have gone to horses owned by Coolmore, Godolphin or the Aga Khan Studs. Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud struck a blow for smaller breeders when producing the...

Across the Epsom Downs the temporary structures that form the Betfred Derby backdrop are going up but of most importance on this sweltering morning is what's coming down the hill. Five Classic hopefuls have arrived for a taster of this most unusual of tracks, though one is back for take two. Balzac, third in the Blue Riband Trial here behind Saxon Street and Rebel Rocker, has subsequently had a spin around Lingfield too, but his trainer Jane Chapple-Hyam is taking no chances with her first Derby runner.  "I bought him...

If horse racing is your thing and you value the Derby above all other races, then there can be no finer way to spend a Monday morning in May than at the place which has had more influence on the great race than any other. Ballydoyle can be held up alongside any of the great sporting arenas such as Lord's, Murrayfield, Old Trafford, Fenway Park, the MCG. True, it's not where the competition actually takes place, but what happens on its fabled acres has long been of worldwide significance to...

With just a few pieces of the jigsaw still to be slotted into place this week at York, the Epsom picture has emerged a little more clearly over the past week or so through some key Derby and Oaks trials at Chester, Lingfield and Leopardstown. Most have been dominated by Aidan O'Brien, including a clean sweep of the five stakes races on the Roodee. So where better to start than at Ballydoyle on a fresh Monday morning with a trainer in a jovial mood after bagging his second Classic of...

Forty-one colts remain in contention for the £2 million Betfred Derby following Tuesday's latest scratching stage, with a handful of colts trained by Aidan O'Brien heading the market. Top among them is Benvenuto Cellini, a son of Frankel and the Breeders' Cup winner Newspaperofrecord who will make his seasonal debut in Wednesday's G3 Boodles Chester Vase. Of the 41 remaining entries, 21 are trained in Ireland - 17 by O'Brien and the other four trained by his son, Joseph, who won the Derby twice as a jockey aboard Camelot and...

In recent weeks, Forever Young has won the world's richest race for the second time, Ka Ying Rising has set a new record in winning 18 consecutive races, Romantic Warrior landed his 13th Group 1 contest, and Rebel's Romance posted his 21st career victory. They have respectively earned the equivalent of approximately £23m, £13m, £26m and £12m. It would seem that there has never been a better time to own a top-class racehorse.  Calandagan, the world's top-rated racehorse in 2025, has just turned five and may be seen next in...

Following the publication of the entries on Tuesday, ante-post favourite Pierre Bonnard (Camelot) is among 88 colts in contention for the Betfred Derby, which takes place at Epsom Downs on Saturday, June 6 and offers record prize-money of £2 million in 2026. Pierre Bonnard, who was last seen winning October's G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud, features in a bumper list of 24 entries for Aidan O'Brien, the most successful trainer in the history of the Classic with 11 wins. The Ballydoyle contingent also includes the first three from last year's G1...

EPSOM DOWNS, UK -- Forty years ago, back in those heady days of the 1980s, Slip Anchor slipped the field under Steve Cauthen to land the Derby by seven lengths and all felt right with the world. A Derby winner by a Derby winner by a Derby winner.  And here we are again. Lambourn, by Australia, by Galileo (and let's not forget Australia's dam, the mighty Ouija Board): an all-the-way Derby winner by almost four lengths. "He'll stay a while," said a smiling Wayne Lordan, so deservedly now a Derby-winning...

For so long now we have been used to the Galileo factor at Epsom, and while none of his final small crop of 13 has made the line-up for the Derby or the Oaks, we still find his name all over the place on the pages of this year's runners, merely starting to shuffle back a bit in the generation game.  Galileo's sons Frankel, Australia and Circus Maximus each have at least one runner in the Derby, and Frankel and Australia also have Oaks runners. Eight of the 19 Derby...

Cheshire Oaks heroine Minnie Hauk (Frankel) is the likely mount of Ryan Moore in the Betfred Oaks, according to trainer Aidan O'Brien, with the Ballydoyle team also set to call upon the services of Wayne Lordan and Colin Keane on a busy Classic weekend at Epsom. Speaking on a call hosted by the Jockey Club on Tuesday, O'Brien echoed his recent comments about Delacroix (Dubawi) being the horse most likely to have the benefit of Moore's assistance in Saturday's Betfred Derby, before clarifying the picture somewhat with regards the Oaks,...