Irish Derby 2025: Aidan O'Brien Eyes Another Historic Win

All eyes are on Epsom this weekend as the Derby is run there but it will be just a few short weeks until the focus turns towards the Curragh and the fabled Irish Derby on June 28th.

The Irish Derby Festival runs from Friday until Sunday on the final weekend in June, offering a three-day extravaganza that attracts racing purists, fashion lovers and families alike.

This year marks a legacy of 160 years of the Irish Derby, a race that continues to stand as one of the most prestigious and thrilling in the world.

Of course, Aidan O'Brien has dominated this great race like no trainer before him. The Ballydoyle maestro first won it with Desert King in 1997 and he now has a stunning tally of 16 wins, most recently with the gutsy Los Angeles in 2024.

O'Brien will have a strong hand to play again, no doubt, come June 28th and we are looking at some of the potential Irish Derby contenders.

Selection: Puppet Master @ 16/1 with Paddy Power

4.101m. 4f. 10 Declared.
Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby (Group 1) of €1,250,000.00 3-y-o

• Formscan
• Race Info
• Conditions

1st - €725,000.00 2nd - €250,000.00 3rd - €125,000.00 4th - €62,500.00 5th - €37,500.00 6th - €25,000.00 7th - €12,500.00 8th - €12,500.00 Going - Good: Changed to Good, Good to Firm in places after Race 7. Partly Cloudy

Formscan By Alan Magee- The first three home at Epsom renew rivalry and LAMBOURN is taken to again come out on top over Lazy Griff and Tennessee Stud. The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt was confirming previous Chester form with the runner-up and is likely to again be ridden prominently with stamina clearly proven. Tennessee Stud kept on well from an unpromising position and could now get closer, while Pride Of Arras reportedly didn’t handle the track at Epsom and previously impressed in the Dante at York. Green Impact lost a shoe in the 2000 Guineas but bounced back to score over 1m1f at Leopardstown and could be a threat to all if staying this trip, while Puppet Master won the Lingfield Derby Trial and has scope for further improvement.

For three years old colts and fillies only
Weights - 9st 2lbs Fillies allowed 3lbs

Tap Runner to view all Odds

  Odds Shortening Odds Lengthening

25	1st	Lambourn	4/5 4/7	4/7
910	4th	Tennessee Stud	9/2 13/2	6/1
16	6th	Green Impact	13/2 10/1	10/1
48	10th	Pride Of Arras	6/1 12/1	11/1
34	3rd	Lazy Griff		11/1
57	9th	Puppet Master	16/1 11/1	11/1
61	2nd	Serious Contender	50/1 20/1	25/1
82	5th	Sir Dinadan		40/1
79	8th	Shackleton		50/1
103	7th	Thrice		90/1
Betting Percentage				121%
Each-Way Terms				3 1/5

 

2⁵

Lambourn 4

4/7

1st

Rating: 120

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

4/7

3 1/5

4/5 4/7 15:56

9¹⁰

Tennessee Stud 4

6/1

4th

Rating: 112

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

6/1

3 1/5

5/1 13/2 15:40

1⁶

Green Impact 4

10/1

6th

Rating: 112

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

10/1

3 1/5

4⁸

Pride Of Arras 4

11/1

10th

Rating: 112

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

11/1

3 1/5

6/1 11/1 15:56

3⁴

Lazy Griff 4

11/1

3rd

Rating: 114

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

11/1

3 1/5

5⁷

Puppet Master 4

11/1

9th

Rating: 105

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

11/1

3 1/5

6¹

Serious Contender 4

25/1

2nd

Rating: 101

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

25/1

3 1/5

50/1 25/1 15:56

8²

Sir Dinadan 4

40/1

5th

Rating: 102

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

40/1

3 1/5

7⁹

Shackleton 4

50/1

8th

Rating: 101

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

50/1

3 1/5

10³

Thrice 4

90/1

7th

Rating: 102

• Odds

Price

E/W

Moves

90/1

3 1/5

Paddy Power Betting Offer

O'Brien controlling the narrative

Much will of course depend on how O'Brien's trio of Epsom contenders fare this weekend, with Delacroix, The Lion In Winter and Lambourn all set to take to the stage on the Surrey Downs.

Auguste Rodin won at Epsom in 2023 and came to the Curragh to complete the Derby double. In doing so he became the 19th horse in history to complete an Epsom/Curragh Derby double.

Of the 10 horses that have tried since 1999, seven have done the double, all of whom were trained in Ireland.

Sinndar, Galileo and High Chaparral made it three Epsom winners in a row to strike at the Curragh from 2000 to 2002, but it was another decade before Camelot emulated the feat in 2012. Australia (2014) and Harzand (2016) soon followed and Auguste Rodin was the latest.

So, all in all, five of O'Brien's Epsom winners — of which he has had 10 going into the 2025 race — have come to the Curragh and supplemented their wins.

Lingfield pair may head here

The shortest price Ballydoyle runner in the Irish Derby betting that isn't Epsom-bound is Stay True at around 6/1.

He of course was denied in last month's Lingfield Derby Trial by stablemate Puppet Master, who was the only scratch from the Derby field at final declarations for Epsom.

Some observers felt Puppet Master was fortunate to earn the verdict that afternoon, but a recollecting watch back shows he was probably doing enough to hold on under Ryan Moore.

The son of Camelot is bred to be a Derby horse. There was no setback that caused him to miss Epsom and he could be some value in the Irish Derby betting at 16/1 now.

We know from history that O'Brien's Epsom heroes have a 50 per cent strike-rate at the Curragh when they turn up, but it certainly doesn't always follow that they will take in this race, in which case Puppet Master could be generously priced — assuming of course that O'Brien masterminds another Epsom success.