Benvenuto Cellini

He broke through at Killarney in July 2025, and the form has escalated sharply since. Last year he won a Group 2 — one of the top races in Ireland — at Leopardstown by five lengths, which is a demolition job at that level. His only blip came at Doncaster, where the wet, heavy ground appeared to find him out. His trainer Aidan O'Brien noted that jockey Christophe Soumillon felt the horse got stuck in the conditions, was looked after in the closing stages, and still only lost by a couple of lengths while keeping on all the way to the line. In other words, even on a bad day, on ground completely unsuited to him, he wasn't embarrassed.

What followed was confirmation of just how good he is. Raced at Chester under a penalty — extra weight carried by a horse who has already won — he showed real pace to chase down the field and win, impressing jockey Ryan Moore enough that Moore came away convinced a tilt at the Epsom Derby was the right next step. Moore described him as high-class and noted the better ground clearly suited him. His most recent win came at The Curragh just this week, and by all accounts it was another smooth performance that left O'Brien considering a Derby entry in earnest.

O'Brien, training out of Cashel in County Tipperary, has sent out 125 winners already this season — a reminder that when a horse catches his eye as a serious Epsom prospect, that opinion carries real weight. He has described Benvenuto Cellini as a great mover who should be well suited by the particular cambers and gradients of the Epsom course. The Epsom Derby is the most famous flat race in Britain, and the fact that this horse is being discussed as a genuine contender — potentially even as a second-string entry for a yard that routinely sends multiple horses — says everything about the regard in which he is held.

Six races in, unbeaten on good ground, and with the Derby on the horizon, Benvenuto Cellini looks like one of the most interesting three-year-olds in training right now.