A horse-by-horse guide to the 2026 Derby has put Benvenuto Cellini at the top of the betting picture, with Aidan O’Brien’s colt listed as the favourite and Wayne Lordan booked to ride him from stall 11. The guide arrived with Saturday’s race approaching and big crowds expected at Epsom, giving punters a fresh snapshot of the field before the stalls open.
Benvenuto Cellini is priced at 25-1 and carries a Timeform rating of 125, numbers that sit alongside a form line strong enough to explain why he leads the market. He was beaten only half a length by Hawk Mountain in the Group One Futurity at Doncaster last season, then finished two and three-quarter lengths behind Item in the Dante Stakes at York last month. For readers searching itv 7, those details matter because the guide is not just a list of runners; it is a betting and form map for the race on the day everyone is trying to work out who belongs in the frame.
The same guide also points to the usual Derby contradiction: the favourite looks the part on ratings and recent form, but the trip remains the test. Benvenuto Cellini’s dam side is not nearly as stamina-laden as many horses from O’Brien’s yard, which leaves an open question over how he will handle the step up to Epsom. That uncertainty is part of what makes the race more than a paper exercise, even with the favourite already identified.
The wider field carries its own clues. One runner comes from a stall that has housed 11 winners in all, including Lambourn last year, while other contenders arrive off mixed prep runs, including a maiden winner at Kempton in April, a horse beaten in the Blue Riband Trial at Epsom, one behind Maltese Cross and Bay Of Brilliance at Lingfield, and another who was six and a half lengths behind the runner-up there. The guide underlines that several runners are being assessed with stalls, odds and Timeform ratings, the kind of detail bettors use to separate hopefuls from outsiders.
There is also a historical note hanging over the build-up. The Newmarket Stakes has not been won by the subsequent Derby winner since 1985, a reminder that even the strongest spring form can mislead once the field turns for home at Epsom. Benvenuto Cellini may be favourite, but the race will decide whether his Doncaster and York efforts were the right foundation or merely the beginning of a harder test. Saturday will settle that.
