Which Derby entry was a record-breaking yearling? Which one's dam won in Belgium? Which pair are related to each other? John Ingles has the answers.
Action
You have to go back to the 1790s – to Spread Eagle and Didelot - for the only time when two colts out of the same dam won the Derby in consecutive years. Action will be bidding to follow in the footsteps of his older sibling and last year’s winner Lambourn who was himself by Derby winner Australia. Action’s sire has produced a Derby winner too as he’s by another son of Galileo, Frankel, responsible for the 2021 winner Adayar, so there should be no stamina concerns, even though his dam Gossamer Wings was a speedy two-year-old, placed in the Queen Mary and Flying Childers.
Alderman
Connections of Alderman, who is still a maiden, will be hoping he runs as well as family member Dragon Dancer who was also yet to win a race when beaten a short head by Sir Percy at 66/1 twenty years ago. A bargain buy by Derby field standards as he cost just 42,000 guineas foal, Alderman is by the Prix du Jockey Club winner Study of Man from Kirsten Rausing’s well-known ‘Alruccaba’ family. Among several Group 1 winners on Alderman’s pedigree page are the St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov and Arc heroine Alpinista.
Ancient Egypt
Definitely not a cheap buy was Ancient Egypt, a 1.1m yearling purchase by Amo Racing. There’s a strong Juddmonte flavour to his pedigree as he’s another by Frankel and from a Khalid Abdullah family which is no stranger to classic success at Epsom. Ancient Egypt is out of a sister to Midday who was only beaten a head in the Oaks, while his grandam is a half-sister to Reams of Verse who had better luck, winning the Oaks in 1997. Reams of Verse’s siblings also include Elmaamul who was third in the 1990 Derby.
A Taste of Glory
Back to bargain territory here, with A Taste of Glory costing just €20,000 as a yearling. He’s the first of two German-bred colts in the confirmations, being by the late ten-time pattern race winner Soldier Hollow who has sired German Derby winners, but whose best British-trained performer is the Sun Chariot Stakes winner Tamfana. A Taste of Glory’s dam, who was a seven-furlong winner in Germany, was a sister to a classic winner, though that was the Swiss 1000 Guineas.
Balzac
Balzac is the other German-bred colt and something of a rarity in these parts as he’s one of just three runners in Britain to date from the first crop of Japan who was third in the 2019 Derby before going on to win the Grand Prix de Paris and Juddmonte International for Aidan O’Brien. A 30,000 guineas foal, he’s another of the cheaper purchases in the field, though Jane Chapple-Hyam has also had success with his half-brother Claymore, winner of the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot. Their unraced dam is by the 2002 Derby winner High Chaparral.
Bay of Brilliance
Another by a ‘French Derby’ winner, Bay of Brilliance is by New Bay and cost 140,000 guineas as a yearling. His useful dam Incroyable was a winner at around a mile and a quarter in France and he’s her eighth winner, the best of the rest being Willie Mullins’ smart dual-purpose performer Absurde. His exploits include winning the 2023 Ebor and the following spring’s County Hurdle, as well as contesting the last three editions of the Melbourne Cup.
Benvenuto Cellini
Frankel’s best chance of siring a second Derby winner according to the betting. A homebred for Peter Brant, Benvenuto Cellini is a brother to Giselle, winner of last year’s Oaks Trial at Lingfield before contesting the Oaks itself where she finished fifth behind stablemates Minnie Hauk and Whirl after failing to handle the camber, so connections will be hoping her brother copes better with the track. Frankel has supplied the stamina as their dam Newspaperofrecord is from a speedy family and was very smart in the States where her wins included the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Causeway
Causeway will be bidding to complete a Derby double for his late sire Wootton Bassett who supplied Ballydoyle with the first two home, Constitution River and Hawk Mountain, in last weekend’s Prix du Jockey Club. His sister Island Hopping was third in last year’s Irish Oaks, and the family has produced a Derby winner for Coolmore already as their dam Heaven of Heavens (by Galileo) is a sister to 1000 Guineas and Oaks runner-up Rhododendron, the dam of 2023 Derby winner Auguste Rodin, as well as to high-class middle-distance filly Magical.
Christmas Day
This colt certainly has the right pedigree for a mile and a half, being by one Derby winner, Camelot, out of the daughter of another, Sea The Stars. He was a Coolmore yearling purchase at 450,000 guineas, with his best sibling being the smart Missed The Cut. He won the Golden Gates Handicap at Royal Ascot for George Boughey before doing well in the States where he won Grade 3 races at a mile and a half on both dirt and turf. Both their dam Beauly and grandam Pickle also had successful careers across the Atlantic after starting out in Britain.
Endorsement
Another Coolmore entry bred on the Wootton Bassett x Galileo cross. He’s the first foal of Embellished who never ran, but no fewer than six of her full brothers and sisters earned Timeform ratings of over 100. Best of those was the very smart Johannes Vermeer who finished runner-up in a Melbourne Cup for Aidan O’Brien having been a Group 1 winner at two in the Criterium International, while the others include Irish Derby third Covent Garden and Dewhurst runner-up Wembley.
Item
Not only is Item another leading contender for Frankel with a trial win to his name, he’s bred on the same cross as Benvenuto Cellini as he too is out of a Lope de Vega mare. Although a Juddmonte homebred, Item doesn’t come from one of the well-established Khalid Abdullah families. His dam Capla Temptress ended up in the States and was a smart miler at her best, though her biggest win came at two for Marco Botti in the Grade 1 Natalma Stakes in Canada. Further back, there are plenty of smart winners in the family, including recent Goodwood listed winner Boiling Point.
James J Braddock
Another of those who didn’t cost a fortune, being a 40,000 guineas yearling. He’s by the superbly bred (by Dubawi out of Zarkava) French stallion Zarak, winner of the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud over a mile and half and sire of three Group 1 winners on the continent. James J Braddock’s dam Burkina Faso won over an extended ten furlongs in France and is a half-sister to smart winners Angel Power and The Reverend, the latter successful in handicaps up to a mile and a three quarters last year.
Maltese Cross
Apart from winning the Derby himself, Sea The Stars sired Harzand, the winner ten years ago, and is represented this year by Maltese Cross who fetched 350,000 guineas as a yearling. His dam is also by a Derby winner, Camelot, and while Maltese Cross has a French suffix, he’s comes from a very good German family. The sales catalogue rather vaguely refers to his dam winning ‘abroad’, which turns out to be in Belgium, but her siblings including a couple of Group 1 winners, German Derby winner Nutan and Grosser Preis von Berlin winner Nymphea.
Pierre Bonnard
This is another colt sired by a Derby winner and out of a mare by another, in his case Camelot and New Approach. Bought by Coolmore for €280,000 as a yearling, Pierre Bonnard is out of the smart filly Sultanina whose big win came in the Nassau Stakes but was a Group 3 winner at a mile and a half as well as runner-up in the Lancashire Oaks at that trip and a close fifth in the Prix Vermeille. Sultanina has also produced the useful filly Crepe Suzette, third in last year’s Park Hill Stakes, which all points to the longer trip being no problem for Pierre Bonnard.
Poker
Poker made headlines before he ever ran, fetching a whopping 4.3 million guineas when bought by Amo Racing which was a European record for a yearling colt. That’s partly down to his sire Wootton Bassett, who supplied Amo’s 2023 Derby runner-up King of Steel, but also a female family that has had success in the Epsom classics. Poker’s dam Park Bloom, a winner up to a mile and a quarter, is a sister to the 2012 Oaks winner Was (and Derby third Amhran Na Bhfiann), while his grandam was a half-sister to the 2008 Derby winner New Approach.
Proposition
Frankel’s fifth representative and closely related to another of the Ballydoyle entries, Causeway. Out of smart filly Halfway To Heaven, whose wins included the Irish 1000 Guineas and Nassau Stakes, his Galileo siblings therefore include the dams of Causeway and Auguste Rodin.
Rebel Rocker
Rebel Rocker has one of the least flashy pedigrees on offer, though it’s not lacking in stamina as his full brother, fairly useful handicapper Silverscape, stayed two miles. Sire Cityscape hasn’t produced too many smart performers, though one of his runners has outrun her odds at Epsom before, with his daughter Caernarfon finishing third in the Oaks at 40/1 in 2023. Rebel Rocker’s dam Miss Minuty was a fairly useful handicapper at her best, successful at up to a mile and a quarter, mainly on the all-weather and is also dam of last season’s November Handicap runner-up Miss Dolly Rocker.
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