Irish Derby Festival: Six things we learned including Benvenuto Cellini, Estrange, Purview & Giant Sequoia

Cellini the chosen one

Benvenuto Cellini remains unbeaten as a three-year-old.

That won't sit comfortably with everyone in light of his being declared a non-runner after getting a hind leg caught up on the rail inside the Epsom starting stalls - and it was interesting to hear Hugo Palmer doubling down on Racing TV on Sunday morning with "He's failed the test that Epsom poses!" - but that's the record in the book and we now know that he's a Group 1 horse to boot.

It shouldn't be forgotten among all the plaudits heading to Aidan O'Brien for an 18th Irish Derby success, and another clean sweep of the places in the Curragh Classic for the Ballydoyle team, that Sunday represented a first top-class success for the chestnut Benvenuto Cellini - picked by Ryan Moore at Epsom as well as the Curragh.

Soft ground was put forward as an excuse after he let down favourite-backers in last season's Futurity Trophy at Doncaster and, on this evidence when the going was relatively lively, the rain prior to the Betfred Derby can't have helped his cause on the Downs, no matter starting the race on three legs.

David Ord was left to ponder on Saturday about where the Classic generation could be most dangerous against a strong-looking group of older horses, particularly in the middle-distance category, and while Benvenuto Cellini may still be a pound or two behind French Derby winning-stablemate Constitution River when the Timeform numbers are reassessed in spite of reversing form with the Epsom winner on Sunday, he's back in the conversation at least.

Moore says he's still a bit "babyish" but Aidan insists he's "slick and quality", and on balance you'd imagine the flashy Frankel should now be ready to step into the big league.

Not bound to win, but bound to be true

Abraham Lincoln looks destined for the top. The Wootton Bassett colt set the tone for O’Brien with a silky-smooth win in Friday’s opening maiden over six furlongs, after which his trainer referred to the “class” he’d been showing.

You’d like to think so given he cost 2.3million euros but the turn of foot a couple of furlongs from the finish was there for all to see; it was a striking debut. He’s out of a good sprinter but there are middle-distance winners in the pedigree including half-brother Highbury (by Galileo) who was runner-up in the Queen’s Vase a couple of summers ago.

Just the name ‘Abraham Lincoln’ screams top-notch Coolmore horse and while it’s easy to fall for plenty of mere maiden winners around this time of year, this colt has a bit of X-factor and settled in behind stablemate Great Barrier Reef in the long-term market for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

No mistaking Giant prospects

Long-term Guineas favourites? Check. Long-term Oaks favourite? Also check thanks to Sunday's impressive seven-furlong maiden winner, the beautifully-bred Alpha. Long-term Derby favourite?

O’Brien already had Aix La Chapelle on pole for Epsom 2027 but there’s a new colt in town and Giant Sequoia, a son of Frankel, looks to have made quite considerable strides since his debut third behind Aix La Chappele in a course and distance (7f) maiden earlier this month.

Perhaps there’s a drop of recency bias at play here but Giant Sequoia is a big boy as the name implies and his debut run may have been needed to put the finishing touches on him. His dam Pink Dogwood is a sister to Latrobe, who won the Irish Derby for Joseph and Donnacha in 2018, and there’s unlikely to be a more obvious O’Brien horse with Classic aspirations to emerge from this meeting. He's 16/1 for the Derby with Ladbrokes and Coral.

Heavenly boost for Billy and George

O’Brien and Moore were back among the juvenile winners in the Airlie Stud Stakes but victory in the six-furlong Group 2 for Sun Goddess will have come as welcome news on the other side of the Irish Sea as well.

The Ballydoyle filly briefly looked to have the Albany Stakes in safe keeping before George Boughey’s Libertango came from the back to snatch victory under Billy Loughnane and the Classic-winning duo from Newmarket should be well heartened by this quickfire form boost.

Recent 1000 Guineas winners Mother Earth, Cachet and Mawj have all been beaten in the Albany before going on to prove themselves at three and Moore may be keen to have another shot at Libertango, who pounced fast and late with a wicked closing furlong and a half (fast finishing splits). "The winner came and nabbed her," O'Brien said in regards to that defeat, but the Boughey filly looks a real prospect in her own right and I’d be favouring the form being upheld if/when that pair meet again.

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Estrange is a Group 1 pretender no more, a drop back to 10 furlongs proving no barrier at all in the Paddy Power Pretty Polly, and you’d have to be a pretty daft punk to still be banging the soft-ground drums regarding David O’Meara’s grey.

It’s a bit odd how these horses get pigeon-holed in light of pedigree, a one-off impressive victory or subsequent quote from connections but Estrange has now raced nine times in her career, winning six and filling the runner-up spot twice.

Those performances have come on going described by Timeform as ‘heavy’ x1, ‘good to soft’ x1, ‘good’ x3, ‘good to firm’ x3 and ‘firm’ x1, so she’s done it in a wide range of conditions and it could be argued most horses would have found the rapid conditions she encountered on the second start of her life at Yarmouth in September 2024 fairly uncomfortable. That was also quite a rough race, in hindsight.

The Nassau (10f), Yorkshire Oaks (12f) and the Arc (12f) – a race she missed at the 11th hour last year – are all on the agenda now, with David O’Meara introducing the idea of a trip to the Breeders’ Cup too when interview on Racing TV’s Luck on Sunday show. The BC Filly & Mare Turf is run over one mile, one and a half furlongs at Keeneland on October 31 this year.

Oaks winner Thundering On gave a cough or two in the aftermath of Saturday's race which was noted and she can be given a pass following the relatively sharp turnaround on the back of such a huge performance on easy ground at Epsom.

Prevalence now common knowledge

Colin Keane is mustard. We knew this already, of course, so it’s not something to be writing home about per se, but he’s now two from two aboard Prevalence after winning the Silken Thomas And Lock 13 Handicap and the Juddmonte-owned filly should be able to step back into stronger company now she’s evidently learning to settle.

Trainer Ger Lyons was questioned by the stewards in regard to the apparent improvement in form and he reportedly suggested her previous low-key effort under Nicola Burns may have been down to the ground. I’m not convinced by that at all, although Timeform had called it ‘good to firm’ on 1,000 Guineas day at the end of May whereas the official description was ‘good’ on Friday so there’s maybe some merit in the idea.

Either way, Juddmonte and Lyons have an improving and lightly-raced filly on their hands again now and her sister won a couple of times at Listed level so it wouldn’t be a surprise if that’s the goal at some stage before the end of the year.

The filly – and her rider who gave his mount plenty of daylight on the outside and didn’t have to get anything like serious in the closing stages – looked different class on this occasion.

Taking a positive view

Purview made it three wins on the bounce in Sunday’s Group 3 Dubai Duty Free International Stakes and could be able to hold his own in something a little bit hotter.

Another for Juddmonte and Keane, the son of Kingman has always been held in high reward by his trainer Dermot Weld and has got entries in the King George, Irish Champion Stakes, the Arc and Irish St. Leger as well.

Ascot would be a fascinating option, despite the owners also having Kalpana as a rather more obvious candidate but they’re not averse to running more than one horse in a top race, and on this evidence he surely won’t be geared towards the Irish St. Leger as he’s got more gears than a typical Weld stayer in that sort of mould. The trainer feels the Breeders' Cup Turf could be the best end-of-year target and you've got to admire that sort of ambition - it's a race he won a few years ago with Tarnawa after all.

Another son of Kingman had struck earlier on the card and it was former Weld inmate Pierre Royal who seemed to win with any amount in hand in the valuable Dubai Duty Free Derby Festival Handicap (replay below).

He’s got a very decent Moyglare pedigree and is reportedly bound for the Colm Quinn BWM Mile Handicap on day two of the Galway Festival (July 28) and it’ll take a well-treated rival to beat him if the ground is similarly quick.

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