2026 Derby pinstickers’ guide: runners, tips, key quotes and Keith Melrose’s ratings for every contender
Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here
The Betfred Derby is worth £2 million and has attracted a field of 14 runners. Read our horse-by-horse guide, featuring top quotes and star ratings, to the famous Epsom Classic, live on ITV and RTV at 4.00.
Keith Melrose’s view: Would have been a major player on his juvenile form, when he was third to 2,000 Guineas winner Bow Echo and second to French Derby runner-up Hawk Mountain. It looked like he wanted nothing to do with racing on his first run this season, and he still looked awkward when push came to shove in the Dante last time, but he did at least run a lot better, following home Item. Cheekpieces go on now. Has the talent, but the application is in doubt.
Star rating: **
Trainer’s view Aidan O’Brien: “He’s come forward with every run. He improved lovely to the Dante and we think he’s come forward since.”
Jky: Wayne Lordan Tnr: A P O’Brien
Keith Melrose’s view: Has yet to win a race and the Derby is hardly the place to start. The only thing in his favour is that the horse who beat him last time, Water To Wine, looks destined for the top.
Star rating: *
Trainer’s view Richard Hannon: “He’s the right horse to have a go at the race. He had a spin around the track last week. He handled it well and is very talented. He needed the run at Newbury where he got there on the bridle.”
Jky: Pat Dobbs Tnr: Richard Hannon
Keith Melrose’s view: Cost 1.1 million guineas as a yearling and is bred to win a Derby: dad Frankel produces Classic winners for fun and his mum’s sister Midday was second in the Oaks. Belatedly looked the part on his only outing of 2026, when he handled Newmarket’s quirks admirably. The draw has been kind at even quirkier Epsom, but the niggle is whether he will be quite good enough. Could be the each-way bet in the race.
Star rating: ****
Trainer’s view Charlie Johnston: “He’s in great order and I couldn’t be happier with him. He had a stern enough workout at Epsom and it left me in a position where all I’ve needed to do since then is tick him over. I’ve got no concern about the trip and I’d be pretty confident he’ll improve for it.”
Jky: David Egan Tnr: Charlie Johnston
Keith Melrose’s view: Has recorded his wins at Brighton and Lingfield, two tracks said to be similar in layout to Epsom. That means this rank outsider should at least handle the track as he disappears out the back of the telly.
Star rating: *
Assistant trainer’s view Anna Lisa Balding: “We’ve been lucky with [owner] Ahmad Al Shaikh. He’s had horses with us who have finished second twice at big, big prices, and A Taste of Glory might do the same.”
Jky: Jamie Spencer Tnr: Andrew Balding
Keith Melrose’s view: Has twice been third behind Maltese Cross, who is a contender today. On neither occasion has he looked to have any chance of reversing the form, so if you back him you are on a wing and a prayer even before factoring in his tricky draw in stall two.
Star rating: *
Jockey’s view Silvestre de Sousa: “He ran well in his trial at Lingfield. He is a big outsider, but he handles Epsom well. I had a gallop on him round there, and I was pleased with him.”
Jky: Silvestre De Sousa Tnr: Jane Chapple-Hyam
Untitled Document
Recommended Offer
Get £30 in Free Bets When You Place Any Bet
NEW CUSTOMER OFFER
-
More extra place horse races than any other bookmaker
New customers only. First single & E/W bet only. Odds of 1/1 or greater. 3 X £10 bet tokens. Free bet stakes not included in returns. Free bets exclude virtuals. Free bets are non withdrawable. Free bets expire after 30 days. Eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply.
Keith Melrose’s view: Six and a half lengths ahead of Balzac, and just a neck behind Maltese Cross, in Lingfield’s big trial last time and comes here with more potential, having got there via a novice race at Redcar. His sire New Bay is excellent, his half-brother Absurde won the Ebor and his trainer Ralph Beckett is bound to win the Derby at some point. This colt gives him a puncher’s chance of making it this year.
Star rating: ***
Trainer’s view Ralph Beckett: “Considering he won over a mile and a quarter at two, you’d have to assume he’s a stout stayer and the rain they’ve had shouldn’t be a negative. He wasn’t beaten far by Maltese Cross at Lingfield and, with a run under his belt, you’d have to hope we’d be even closer again.”
Jky: Hector Crouch Tnr: Ralph Beckett
Keith Melrose’s view: Words like ‘battalion’ and ‘cavalry’ may be something of a cliche in racing, but the four Aidan O’Brien runners in the Derby are likely to act as a military unit of sorts. This horse will be their general, their king. He had a pacemaker setting Sabastian Sawe fractions in his trial at Chester and his yard produced a masterclass in setting up a race up for Constitution River in Sunday’s French Derby. That horse would have won this race, in my view. This one might, but I wouldn’t be mad keen on taking odds around 2-1.
Star rating: ****
Trainer’s view Aidan O’Brien: “Everything has gone well since Chester. He’s drawn nicely there on the outside so we think it’s fine. He’s a big, high-cruiser and we always thought Epsom wouldn’t be a problem to him.”
Jky: Ryan Moore Tnr: A P O’Brien
Keith Melrose’s view: You might think he’s too ridiculously named to win the Derby, but Santa Claus did it in 1964. That horse had already won the Irish 2,000 Guineas, whereas this one has only won a couple of Group 3s. Only third in the Dante last time, and Aidan O’Brien never runs his best Derby hopes in that race anyway.
Star rating: **
Trainer’s view Aidan O’Brien: “Christmas Day is lovely, and we think the mile and a half will suit him.”
Jky: Ronan Whelan Tnr: A P O’Brien
Keith Melrose’s view: Sir Michael Stoute was the last trainer to have a Derby winner (Workforce, 2010) in Juddmonte’s famous green-and-pink silks. Stoute has retired now, but this unbeaten Juddmonte colt has taken the route to the Derby that he made famous, going from novices straight to the Dante at York. That was a messy enough race, but this horse’s class shone through the murk and you have to be excited by what’s still to come. Isn’t that what the Derby is all about?
Star rating: *****
Racing manager’s view Barry Mahon: “He brings good, solid form into the Derby. Action, who he beat in the Dante, got close to Bow Echo, who was so impressive in the Guineas, at Newmarket [Royal Lodge] last autumn. I think the Dante form is very strong. Item won it easily on his first run of the season. We’re entitled to think there is plenty more to come.”
Jky: Colin Keane Tnr: Andrew Balding
Keith Melrose’s view: In case you were wondering, a former world heavyweight champion, played by Russell Crowe in the 2005 movie Cinderella Man. Got knocked down in the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown, got back up again to win the Derby Trial there a month later. Beat Pierre Bonnard in that race, but did so because of a superior change of pace and the sense is there will be a stronger gallop on here, which would dull that skill.
Star rating: ***
Trainer’s view Joseph O’Brien: “He’s coming in on the back of a trial win and has earned his spot. He’ll have no problem with the ground and you’d imagine he should get the trip too.”
Jky: Dylan Browne McMonagle Tnr: Joseph Patrick O’Brien
Untitled Document
Recommended Offer
Get £30 in Free Bets When You Place Any Bet
NEW CUSTOMER OFFER
-
More extra place horse races than any other bookmaker
New customers only. First single & E/W bet only. Odds of 1/1 or greater. 3 X £10 bet tokens. Free bet stakes not included in returns. Free bets exclude virtuals. Free bets are non withdrawable. Free bets expire after 30 days. Eligibility restrictions and further T&Cs apply.
Keith Melrose’s view: Has never won by far, but he has always run in good races and the form of his Lingfield win last time is even better than it looks on paper. Stall one is a tricky draw, but at least this week’s rain is unlikely to be bad news. He’s officially French-bred but has a German family and the received wisdom is that they cope well with softer ground.
Star rating: ****
Trainer’s son Sam Haggas: “It is great that Tom [Marquand] has gotten happier and happier with the horse as the year has gone on, and the horse keeps coming forward. It’s great that Tom is going there confident in his mount. He’s confident and happy with the horse and where he’s at.”
Jky: Tom Marquand Tnr: William Haggas
Keith Melrose’s view: Has been strong in the betting ever since the rain arrived and skeptics might quip that’s because boats like him go well on water. He won a French Group 1 on ‘very soft’ ground last year, which earned him Derby favouritism over the winter, but has not looked quite the same in two runs this year, but then nor has he had the sort of test of stamina that is bound to suit. A real poser of a horse, or at least he would have been if you could still back him at 10-1.
Star rating: ***
Trainer’s view Aidan O’Brien: “We didn’t want to have him too ready too early because he is a very big horse. Everything has gone well since Leopardstown and we think he’s come forward since.”
Jky: Christophe Soumillon Tnr: A P O’Brien
Keith Melrose’s view: Connections went all in to pay 4.3 million guineas for him and have chosen not to fold despite him failing to win any of his first three races. His price tag, pedigree and top trainer are all positives. That he looks nowhere near good enough at this stage is a more powerful negative.
Star rating: *
Owner’s view Kia Joorabchian: “He put up a very, very good performance on his first run over a mile and a half. We know he wants the trip. We know he has grown a lot [since last year]. We think he’s a very, very good horse.”
Jky: Rowan Scott Tnr: K R Burke
Keith Melrose’s view: Looked smart when winning on his debut and largely backed that up when second in Epsom’s trial for the Derby. Could easily be a Group horse and would be a fairytale winner for his relatively small yard, but if you like fairytales then the Derby, racing’s quintessentially elitist race, rarely delivers for you.
Star rating: *
Jockey’s view Rob Hornby: “It’s very exciting. I’m not too concerned with the draw [14]. He’s a horse you’d want to be positive on. He’s had a spin round Epsom which is a big advantage. He’s very uncomplicated, and who knows what can happen?”
Jky: Rob Hornby Tnr: Faye Bramley
Keith Melrose’s Derby 1-2-3 prediction
Jky: Colin Keane Tnr: Andrew Balding
Read more Raceday Intel:
Confirmed runners and riders for the Derby and Oaks at Epsom: Christophe Soumillon bags big ride for Aidan O’Brien
‘He is progressive and unexposed at the trip’ – why this horse can win the Betfred Derby
Who will win the 2026 Derby and Oaks at Epsom based on previous trends?
Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.
Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators that our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing.
