By Tom Frary
It could be argued that The Curragh staged the “real” Derby on Sunday, with the Blue Riband “non-runner” Benvenuto Cellini (Frankel) showing what he could have done had Epsom not turned into a quagmire.
Staged on safe, fast summer ground, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby went the way of Aidan O'Brien as had 17 previous renewals since he took over at Ballydoyle, with a remarkable ninth one-two-three in the Classic for good measure.
“He's got a lot of quality and Epsom was just a mess,” Ryan Moore said. “It was an unusual set of circumstances and he had no hope there, but he's a beautiful mover and travelled into the race beautifully today. I produced him sooner than I would have liked, but when there is wind like there is today The Curragh gets complicated and you can't win from too far back.”
“He got to the front today quite easy and didn't quite know what to do,” he added. “He just rolled around a bit and the Derby winner didn't lay down–he's a proper horse and a real trier. We always always thought that Pierre had the class to win a Derby and although that hasn't worked out, he has come back,” he added. “We always felt that all three of them could win and on a different day under different circumstances any of them could have. This lad is still babyish, but he's learning and putting it all together and it'll be interesting to see what the future holds.”
Last to load to avoid the Epsom stalls fiasco, the 7-4 favourite was switched to the fence soon after the start and all the negativity of his widest draw was instantly negated. Action (Frankel) was sacrificed on the front end to supply the appropriate hot fractions, with Christmas Day (Camelot) and Pierre Bonnard (Camelot) in tow travelling strongly. In the back straight, nearly all was going to plan up ahead with the outsider Shaihaan (Night Of Thunder) the only potential complication for the chestnut.
Delivered four-wide wide entering the straight, the Champions Juvenile and Chester Vase winner was able to pick up the Derby winner with relative comfort approaching the furlong pole and may have been idling in the clear as he led the latest stable whitewash here. Christmas Day kept finding to be 1 3/4 lengths away, with Pierre Bonnard at last able to show his true colours in 2026, a neck away in third. The winning time was 2:28.33, making it the fifth fastest Irish Derby this century.
In a measure of how dominant the Ballydoyle three-year-old Derby colts are this year, Shadwell's exciting Raaheeb (Sea The Stars) could never land a blow, finishing six lengths adrift of Pierre Bonnard in fourth. Connections were probably approaching this early examination with hope rather than expectation with their work in progress, with history showing very clearly that this really isn't the race in which to take on Aidan O'Brien.
Since his first one-two-three in 2002, he had achieved the feat in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2019, 2020 and 2023 and had the first two home in 2009 and 2025. All three and the pacemaker Action are set to go in different directions now, with the winner being aimed at the King George next month. Interestingly, of those winners sent to Ascot by O'Brien, only Galileo was successful back in 2001.
“He had a very ordinary run in Epsom, but we knew all the things that went wrong,” O'Brien said. “There was going to be nowhere to hide, you were either going to follow or not get into it and we didn't know what was going to happen. We knew the pace was going to be on and he was going to be put to the pin of his collar, but he always worked with that class whereas we knew that Christmas Day would stay further. He wasn't going to be easy to catch because he was ridden forward and positive and I just hope everyone enjoyed it–this facility, this track, with beautiful ground on a beautiful day.”
“I had no faith after Epsom, I thought it was impossible as he was beaten two furlongs there and the Epsom form always stands up,” he added. “We have often come here thinking we would overturn the Epsom horse if we were beaten and it never happened, so it's amazing. If there was any weakness in his armour, it was going to be exposed. Fair play to the lads for letting the Derby winner come here too and risk being de-valued. Declan [McDonogh] got the fractions spot-on, his horse [Action] will go back in trip and this horse could go to the King George if he doesn't need a break.”
“If he does need a break, he could come back for the Irish Champion and he's a ready-made American horse,” the Ballydoyle handler said of the winner. “He's real slick and fast and that will suit–fast ground with the pace on as he has that kind of quality. Pierre could be a possible for France in two weeks [the Grand Prix de Paris] if he doesn't need a break and we have Causeway for that too. Ronan's horse [Christmas Day] is a real Leger type.”
Discussing the decision of Ryan Moore to ride the winner, O'Brien added, “I wasn't sure he was doing the right thing, I'm not sure I'd have had the courage to do it but he never flinched. How right it was that he was called a non-runner in the Derby, seeing what he did here. Ryan looked after him halfway up the straight at Epsom when he saw he had no chance and he went out with an open mind about what could happen today. With the draw he had here, he could have been taken out of it but obviously Ryan's mind is very quick and he has that decision-making ability. It could have gone the other way very quickly and he might never have got into it, but he had his impulse and he had the horse.”
John Magnier was on hand to witness the new landmark and said, “It's a pity Peter and Stephanie [Brant] can't be here. They were coming to Epsom, but she fell ill in London. Peter understands the breeding industry and he knows this game from A through Z. He was a top polo player himself. It's no accident that he would be involved in breeding a Derby winner. He must be the best three-year-old that there is at the moment.”
Christmas Day's rider Ronan Whelan said, “He ran a cracker. The ground was a bit of a worry coming here, but it shows how tough he is. He galloped away and ran all the way to the line. He strikes you as a nice Leger horse going forward.”
Pierre Bonnard's jockey Wayne Lordan was also upbeat. “He travelled nice and got to the line well,” he said. “He feels like he handled the ground pretty good and he will stay further.” Of Raaheeb, Rossa Ryan said, “The ground was possibly a bit quick and he'd probably be happy enough to come back to a mile and a quarter on softer ground in the autumn. I think next year he'll be a bigger and better horse–the pedigree shows that.”
⚡️ REDEMPTION DAY ⚡️
It all went wrong at Epsom but it's all gone right today as Benvenuto Cellini wins the @DubaiDutyFree Irish Derby under Ryan Moore.
It's a 1-2-3 for Aidan O'Brien 🔥@curraghrace | @WorldPool pic.twitter.com/94VzeO6eI7
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 28, 2026
Pedigree Notes
Benvenuto Cellini, who was becoming Frankel's third Irish Derby winner after Hurricane Lane in 2012 and Westover in 2022, was adding a second renewal of this Classic to his family's honour roll after Latrobe (Camelot) in 2018. He is the second foal out of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Just a Game heroine Newspaperofrecord (Lope de Vega), with the first being the winner's full-sister Giselle who captured the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial and finished third at Group 3 level.
The second dam is the Sceptre Stakes scorer and Cheveley Park Stakes runner-up Sunday Times (Holy Roman Emperor), whose Listed-placed half-sister Question Times by Lope De Vega's sire Shamardal was responsible for the aforementioned Latrobe (Camelot) and his multiple Group 1-placed full-sister Pink Dogwood whose son of Frankel Giant Sequoia took Saturday's Barronstown Stud Maiden at this Festival.
Newspaperofrecord's two-year-old full-sister to Benvenuto Cellini is named Sweetly, while she has 2025 and 2026 colts by Justify to follow.
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