A horse-by-horse guide to the 2026 Derby has put Benvenuto Cellini at the top of the market, with Wayne Lordan booked to ride Aidan O’Brien’s colt from stall 11 on Saturday. The favourite goes into the race with a Timeform rating of 125 and is quoted at 25-1, a combination that makes him the headline name in a field being weighed up for one of the biggest days of the flat season.
That is why readers are searching now. Big crowds are expected at Epsom on Saturday, and this guide gives the first clear snapshot of how the leading runners stack up on stalls, ratings, odds and pedigree before the Derby is run. Benvenuto Cellini has already shown he belongs in good company, finishing a half-length second to Hawk Mountain in the Group One Futurity on heavy ground at Doncaster last season before going down by two and three-quarter lengths to Item in the Dante Stakes at York last month.
That York run matters because it hinted the extra distance could unlock more from him, and the recent rain at Epsom may help as well. Hawk Mountain went on to finish second in the French Derby, which gives that Doncaster form more weight than it first appeared to carry. Even so, there is a note of caution in the favourite’s profile: his dam’s side is not regarded as nearly as stamina-laden as many from O’Brien’s yard, so his pedigree is not quite the straightforward staying story that his market position suggests.
The rest of the field offers a wide spread of profiles. A Charlie Johnston-trained runner, ridden by David Egan, will break from stall 10 with a Timeform rating of 123p and odds of 16-1 after winning the Newmarket Stakes in early May. He is by Frankel out of Atone by Oasis Dream and was one of two seven-figure yearling colts bought by Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing at the Tattersalls Book 1 sale in October 2024. He also looked at ease on the track at the annual gallops morning last week, and the same guide notes that the Newmarket Stakes has not produced a subsequent Derby winner since 1985, which only sharpens the stakes around him.
There are other runners with claims, if lighter ones. A Richard Hannon-trained colt ridden by Pat Dobbs goes from stall 6 with a Timeform rating of 97p and is priced at 250-1. He is by Study Of Man out of Alagappa by Archipenko, has been steadily progressive in three outings and most recently finished four and a quarter lengths behind Water To Wine over 11 furlongs at Newbury. An Andrew Balding runner with Jamie Spencer aboard starts from stall 7, carries a Timeform rating of 105, is quoted at 300-1 and cost €20,000. Jane Chapple-Hyam’s horse, ridden by Silvestre de Sousa from stall 2, has a Timeform rating of 112 and is priced at 150-1 after one win in four starts, a Kempton maiden success in April, and defeats in the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom and behind Maltese Cross and Bay Of Brilliance at Lingfield.
For all the detail, the race still comes back to the same unresolved question: whether Benvenuto Cellini’s class is matched by enough stamina to see him home over Derby trip and Derby pressure. The numbers and the draw make him the horse to beat, but Saturday will decide whether the favourite can turn a strong guide into a Derby win at last.
