The 2026 Betfred Derby: A highly unsatisfactory affair

One of the great fascinations of the sport of horse racing is that you really can never know what is going to happen from one second to the next. Saturday’s Group 1 Betfred Derby at Epsom had all the hallmarks of a potentially memorable contest that might produce a horse to remember. As it was – and with the greatest respect to the winner – the whole occasion was utter farce and will be remembered for the wrong reasons! writes Paul Alster.

Following a rapid decline in recent years in the number of racegoers attending what was once considered the world’s greatest Flat race, Epsom racecourse had pulled out plenty of stops to try and encourage back the masses. Free entry onto the hill on the inside of the racecourse where a funfair and other attractions awaited, fine facilities in the main enclosures, and an excellent Derby Day card that included not only the big race itself, but also the eagerly anticipated rematch between Jan Breughel and the world’s highest rated racehorse Calandagan, in the Group 1 Betfred Coronation Cup, as well as a host of high-quality supporting stakes races and handicaps. All was set fair … until the heavens opened, and Bay City Roller sloshed to a wide-margin win in the main supporting event, both Jan Breughel and Calandagan (in particular) finding the conditions against them.

The Betfred Oaks twenty-four hours earlier had seen the runners come across to the stands side in search of better ground, but on Derby Day the heavens well and truly opened. The dilemma for owners, trainers and jockeys was whether to tread the longer route over to the stands side again, or go the traditional Derby route over on the far rail on fresh ground that might possibly be slower than the stands rail?

The stands side appeared the more likely call until Laura Pearson rode the race of her life on Sparks Fly in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes. Six of the seven runners came across to the stands side, but Pearson stuck to her guns and went it alone on the far rail, eventually running out a facile winner by more than eight lengths. The prospect of a Derby finish with the field divided by the width of the track loomed large.

Benvenuto Cellini, the chosen mount of Ryan Moore, appeared to be the main hope of the all-conquering Aidan O’Brien team that landed a 1-2-3 the previous weekend in the French Derby at Chantilly. Pierre Bonard, Action, and Christmas Day made up the Ballydoyle challenge, facing the unbeaten Dante winner Item, as well as the Lingfield Derby Trial first and second, Maltese Cross and Bay Of Brilliance, among others.

The increasingly soft conditions saw late money for proven mudlarks Pierre Bonard and Christmas Day, but Benvenuto Cellini still went off favourite having bolted up the time before in the Group 3 Chester Vase at the May meeting on the Roodee. The incident that will be discussed and argued over for years to come occurred out of the blue at the starting stalls. Benvenuto Cellini had a leg up on the inner rail of his stall when the starter let them go, meaning the colt was slowly away and soon fighting a losing battle. He made some headway from 3f out, but he faded well over a furlong out to finish a well beaten tenth. That was not the end of the story though.

Stable companion Christmas Day (pictured below), under Ronan Whelan, took up the running three furlongs from home and kept going down the centre of the track, proving too strong for the gallant Maltese Cross and James P Braddock, with Bay Of Brilliance back in fourth, in what was the slowest time for the race for over forty years. Christmas Day certainly deserves bags of credit for the performance of his life, but it is hard to take the form at face value considering he was Aidan O’Brien’s fourth string. The field was strung out the length of the straight, the finish resembling more a three-mile chase than the classic race with a roll of honour including Nijinsky, Sea Bird, Shergar, and many more.

The form of this Derby most probably has to be taken with a large pinch of salt. The favourite was seriously inconvenienced at the start, the second-favourite, Item, hated the ground and was beaten twenty-six lengths, and Pierre Bonard was beaten more than ten lengths in seventh with a 100/1 chance and a 66/1 shot finish ahead of him.

The real sensation came though when a stewards enquiry was called. A genuine bolt from the blue followed as the favourite, Benvenuto Celllni, who finished tenth and ran the full race, was declared a non runner and all bets ordered to be returned to punters. A gift for favourite backers, but very bad for those who backed the winner, second, and third, whose odds were duly subject to a 25p in the pound deduction; and terrible for the bookies, including the race sponsors Betfred, who thought they’d got a cracking result but ended up giving stakes back on the well backed and well beaten ‘jolly’!

This was a ridiculous decision. Would Benvenuto Cellini have been declared a non runner if it had won or been placed? Almost certainly not. Yes, the colt was disadvantaged at the start, but Ryan Moore did not pull up or just hack home, he rode a proper race on the Derby favourite who was probably unsuited anyway by the ground. The precedent set, and the massive dent to the reputation of racing is, in my view, a horrendous own goal by the stewards.

This was not a great Derby, but it will be the subject of fierce debate and much argument after a heavily supported horse that competed and ran the whole race was declared a ‘non runner’ in a decision that beggars belief.

Paul Alster has broadcast and reported on the British racing industry for four decades as a commentator, journalist, TV and radio presenter, betting correspondent, SP Returner, tipster and form analyst, among other things.