Benvenuto Cellini bounces back in style for Irish Derby success

Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien combined to land the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby for a fourth successive year, and the master of Ballydoyle saddled his 18th winner of Ireland’s premier classic as Benvenuto Cellini justified 7/4 favouritism. Christmas Day and Pierre Bonard made it a 1-2-3 for O’Brien and it is the ninth time he has achieved that notable feat since 2002.

Epsom victor Christmas Day headed the pacesetting Action entering the straight but was in turn headed by Benvenuto Cellini over a furlong out.

The son of Frankel kept on well under Moore to beat Christmas Day by a length and three-quarters with Pierre Bonard another neck back in third.

The O’Brien trio pulled six lengths clear of Raaheeb in fourth.

O’Brien said, “We always liked him obviously and he had a very good run in Chester before Epsom.

“Obviously all the things seemed to conspire against him at Epsom. It was very difficult for Ryan, I thought it was probably impossible to make up two furlongs. He wasn’t beaten one furlong; he was beaten two in Epsom. I’m delighted for Ryan because it was a difficult decision.

“He went out with an open mind about what could happen today, whether he was going to end up last or he was going to end up going down the rail. Obviously his mind is very quick and he thought that was the right thing.

“I’m delighted for the lads; they put in so much. Derrick and Gaye are not here, Michael or Doreen. John is here and Sue is at home, as are Peter and Stephanie.

“A lot of people put a lot of hard work into it. There are people I don’t mention, in Coolmore and Ballydoyle, and I’m grateful to them.

“He’s a beautiful mover with a lot of class. Ryan felt with this horse that he’d rather go back to a mile-and-a-quarter than go any further than a mile-and-a-half, so that’s class.

“He always worked with that class as well whereas we knew that Christmas Day would stay further. He wasn’t going to be easy to catch because he was ridden forward, positive.

“The Epsom form always stands up here. We have often come here thinking we would overturn the Epsom horse, if we were beaten, and it never happened. It’s amazing.

“Wayne’s horse (Pierre Bonnard) we felt had excuses in Epsom as well and he ran back to what we thought he was.

“It’s unbelievable to have this facility, this track. The ground was beautiful.

“This was a horse that was never going to go up to the Leger trip, he was always going to be a mile-and-a-half or back.

“France might come too soon, the Grand Prix de Paris, and I’d imagine he might have a little rest.

“I’d imagine he could go for the Irish Champion Stakes or something like that.

“This horse will be well suited for America, fast ground with the pace on. He has that kind of quality.

“The second horse will probably be going the Leger route; he’ll stay very well.”

Joint owner John Magnier said, “It’s a pity Peter and Stephanie (Brant) can’t be here.

“They were coming to Epsom, but she fell ill in London, and you know what happened the horse, he was a non-runner. Peter understands the breeding industry, and he knows this game from A through Z. He was a top polo player himself.

“He had an awful lot of horses at one point and then he got out of it, then he got back into it again. It’s no accident that he would be involved in breeding a Derby winner. He must be the best three-year-old that there is at the moment.”

On the Arc he added,“I hope they don’t let the geldings into the Arc. I think most of the purists would be against it.

“There are two sides to every coin but I’m only giving it from the breeding side and from the breed as a whole. The Arc is one of the real races and it won’t be any more if you include geldings.

“My father-in-law (Vincent O’Brien) used to always say that if he was training a yard of geldings the bookmakers would be in worse trouble!”

Moore said, “I’ve never known the ground as slow at Epsom as it was on Derby Day — it’s just one of those things.

“He went down beautifully to the start at Epsom, and it was just unfortunate in the gates. The horse beside him kicked out and he got his legs caught but that’s in the past.

“He got to the front today quite easy and didn’t quite know what to do. He just rolled around a bit and hopefully he’ll come on from this run.”

Christmas Day’s rider Ronan Whelan said, “He ran a cracker. The ground was a bit of a worry coming here but it shows how tough he is. He galloped away and ran all the way to the line. He strikes you as a nice Leger horse going forward.”

Pierre Bonard’s rider Wayne Lordan said, “He travelled nice and got to the line well. He feels like he handled the ground pretty good and he will stay further.”

Raaheeb’s rider Rossa Ryan said, “The ground was possibly a bit quick, and he’d probably be happy enough to come back to a mile and a quarter on softer ground in the autumn. I think next year he’ll be a bigger and better horse; the pedigree shows that.”

Paddy Power cut Benvenuto Cellini into 6/1 (from 8/1) for the King George at Ascot next month.

Additional reporting by Gary Carson