Having already made history at Chantilly, Aidan O’Brien will attempt to extend his domination of the European Classics at Epsom on Saturday, where he is responsible for seven of the seventeen colts left in the Epsom Derby.

The Ballydoyle trainer became the first in the long history of the Prix du Jockey Club to saddle the first three home, completing a remarkable Classic sweep with Constitution River, Hawk Mountain and Montreal in France on Sunday. Neither of the first three from Chantilly has been left in the Derby, but O’Brien still holds the strongest hand numerically as he turns his attention to a race he has already shaped more profoundly than any other trainer.

Final declarations, the draw and jockey bookings will be confirmed at Wednesday’s 72-hour stage, with O’Brien seeking a record-extending twelfth Derby victory and a fourth consecutive success following Auguste Rodin in 2023, City Of Troy in 2024 and Lambourn in 2025.

His team is headed by Benvenuto Cellini, who has been brought along a familiar Ballydoyle route. A winner at Leopardstown as a juvenile, he ended last season by making the frame in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster and returned at Chester last month with an imperious success. His victory in the Chester Vase came at the expense of stablemate Proposition and strengthened the impression that a mile and a half should bring out further improvement.

Pierre Bonnard once looked the most obvious Classic colt among the Ballydoyle middle-distance division, having won the Zetland Stakes before graduating to Group 1 company in the Critérium de Saint-Cloud as a two-year-old. His spring, however, has been less persuasive. He was unable to make an impact on his return in the Ballysax Stakes and then found James J Braddock too strong in the final stride of the Leopardstown Derby Trial, where Endorsement was close behind in third.

That Leopardstown run leaves Endorsement with a more solid profile than a bare reading of his status might suggest. He had already finished second to Christmas Day in the Ballysax and again shaped with credit when forcing much of the issue in the Leopardstown Derby Trial, only losing two places close home in a compressed finish.

Christmas Day himself arrives through the Dante route, having been beaten into third behind Item and Action at York. That defeat checked some of the momentum he had gathered from the Ballysax, but he remains a progressive colt who had won three successive races before York and is another for whom the Derby distance could ask a different question.

Action has the stronger piece of York form among that pair. A Group-race performer at two, he was placed in the Royal Lodge before finishing runner-up in the Futurity Trophy, and his second to Item in the Dante gives him one of the more direct trial credentials in the field. He was unable to resist the winner once headed at York, but that run nevertheless put him firmly back into the Derby conversation.

Causeway brings a different profile altogether. He has climbed rapidly through the spring, returning to win the Madrid Handicap at Naas before adding the Listed Tetrarch Stakes at the Curragh. That progression gives him a live outsider’s shape, although he has so far done his racing at shorter distances and must now prove that his improvement can stretch all the way to Epsom’s mile and a half. Proposition completes the Ballydoyle seven, with his Chester Vase second behind Benvenuto Cellini giving him the most obvious line into the stable’s leading hope.

The main domestic resistance appears to come from Item, who has forced his way towards the head of the reckoning in three starts. Trained by Andrew Balding for Juddmonte, the son of Frankel won twice in low-key company at two before taking a substantial rise in class in his stride in the Dante. Held up at York, he moved into contention smoothly before going clear of Action, with Christmas Day back in third, and remains unbeaten as he prepares for his first attempt at a mile and a half.

Maltese Cross and Bay Of Brilliance are also set to renew rivalry after drawing well clear of the remainder in the Lingfield Derby Trial. Maltese Cross, who had won a Newbury novice on his previous start, took the Listed contest by a neck after a sustained duel and would give William Haggas the opportunity to mark the 30th anniversary of his Derby victory with Shaamit. Bay Of Brilliance, a Redcar novice winner at two, lost little in defeat and shaped as though the additional emphasis on stamina at Epsom should not be against him.

Joseph O’Brien is represented by James J Braddock, whose Leopardstown success came with a late surge that transformed his Derby claims. Well held in the Ballysax on his seasonal return, he improved sharply to defeat Pierre Bonnard and Endorsement in the Derby Trial, and now moves up to a mile and a half for the first time.

Ancient Egypt gives Charlie Johnston and Amo Racing another route into the Classic. The 1,100,000gns yearling won his first two starts as a juvenile before disappointing in the Royal Lodge, but he restored his reputation on his seasonal return when landing the Newmarket Stakes. Johnston went close in last year’s Derby with Lazy Griff and now relies on a colt whose Newmarket performance suggested he may have more to offer over further.

Amo Racing could also be represented by Poker, the 4,300,000gns son of Wootton Bassett whose price tag has inevitably kept him in the spotlight. He has yet to win in three starts, but has twice finished second since his debut and remains among the possibles for Karl Burke.

The remaining confirmations are headed by Balzac and Rebel Rocker, both of whom have already had experience of Epsom. Rebel Rocker was second in the Blue Riband Trial, while Balzac finished third there before again filling the same position behind Maltese Cross and Bay Of Brilliance at Lingfield. Alderman and A Taste Of Glory complete the field, with the latter having made a winning return in handicap company before finishing down the field in the Lingfield Derby Trial.

Photo: HKJC