Epsom Derby runners and riders: Marcus Armytage's guide for 2025
Ryan Moore will ride Delacroix, the favourite for the 246th Betfred Derby at Epsom on Saturday when 19 runners, the biggest field assembled for the Classic since 2003, will go to post.
If there was not much in it for Moore between Delacroix and The Lion in Winter, the over-winter favourite who blew his lines in the Dante, the draw might have been the deciding factor. Delacroix, the winner of both his trials, landed in stall 14 with The Lion In Winter due to come out of stall 19 on the wide outside, a draw considered unfavourable in some quarters.
Aidan O'Brien has gone outside his regular Ballydoyle roster of riders with Colin Keane, the Irish champion fresh from winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas, on The Lion In Winter. I am not sure it is the worst draw for the colt as he will either have to go forward or, more likely, have no choice but to drop in where he will be assured cover for the first two furlongs round a slight right-handed dog leg.
Lambourn, Aidan O'Brien's third string, has drawn the 'lucky' stall 10 where 10 previous winners have been launched from since starting stalls first introduced in 1967. The Dante winner Pride of Arras is two wider than Delacroix in stall 16. Ruling Court, the 2,000 Guineas winner who is vying for favouritism with Delacroix, has the best draw of the fancied runners in stall seven.
Puppet Master, a fourth Ballydoyle runner, was the only one of the 20 five-day confirmations not to go forward to Saturday's race at the new 72-hour stage. The ground, after the longest dry spring in over 30 years, is expected to be good, the weather over the two day Festival expected to be showery.
Derby 2025: confirmed runners and riders
Delacroix 5/2F
Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
Jockey: Ryan Moore
Smartish two-year-old who beat Stanhope Gardens in the Autumn Stakes. Better three-year-old winning both his trials at Leopardstown comfortably beating Lambourn and Tennessee Stud in those. By Dubawi, a brilliant sire yet to breed a Derby winner. Worthy favourite.
Ruling Court 7/1
Trainer: Charlie Appleby
Jockey: William Buick
If this gives Charlie Appleby a third Derby, then everyone will say it's obvious and it adds hugely to the race having the 2,000 Guineas winner in the field. Runner up from Newmarket went and won the Irish 2,000 so form is strong. Bred to get a mile and a half, by Justify, sire of last year's winner City of Troy, but was he screaming out for another half mile? Not totally sure he was.
Pride of Arras 9/2
Trainer: Ralph Beckett
Jockey: Rossa Ryan
Went to York unconsidered for the Dante on his first start at three and a 66-1 shot for Epsom. Now third favourite. Inexperience (one previous winning start at two) proved no barrier when he went through a small to non-existent gap to come home a length and a quarter in front of Damysus. Along with Midak only unbeaten colt in race. Five-star chance.
The Lion In Winter 9/1
Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
Jockey: Colin Keane
Has worn the title 'over-winter favourite' for the Derby like an albatross round his neck. Held up in the spring, he needed the run in the Dante but blew any chance by over-racing early. That might have taken the freshness off him and we all know that O'Brien can turn one round in a short window but the lack of almost any market support since is a bigger worry from that outfit.
Lambourn 11/1
Trainer: Aidan O'Brien
Jockey: Wayne Lordan
Not opening the batting for the Ballydoyle team today. Held by Delacroix on their Ballysax form although he went on to win Chester Vase. Proven at the Derby trip is a plus though as plenty of his rivals won't get it.
Damysus 18/1
Trainer: John & Thady Gosden
Jockey: James Doyle
Winner on the all-weather at two and placed in two trials at three, running on well behind Pride of Arras in the Dante. Damysus won over a mile and a half and Frankel colts get a mile and a half so could improve for trip. Qatari owners have made a splash at Royal Ascot but yet to do so in a domestic Classic.
Midak 12/1
Trainer: Francis-Henri Graffard
Jockey: Mickael Barzalona
Supplemented on Monday. Well, stranger things have happened than a horse winning whose late owner is commemorated in the title of this year's race. Unbeaten in three starts at three but never ran at two. Won the Prix Greffulhe last time, same race as Pour Moi, last French winner, on his way to Epsom.
Midak remains unbeaten with a straight-forward success in the Prix Greffulhe at Saint-Cloud!🇫🇷
Another progressive type for @GraffardRacing and @AgaKhanStuds! pic.twitter.com/Vug9tCfE4f
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) May 9, 2025
Stanhope Gardens 14/1
Trainer: Ralph Beckett
Jockey: Hector Crouch
Interesting runner and somewhat unknown quantity from the same stable as Pride of Arras. Only a neck behind Delacroix at two puts him right in the picture. Had little more than a racecourse gallop in a three runner race at Salisbury a fortnight ago which should have blown the cobwebs away. If there's a double figure odds winner, he is the most likely.
Nightwalker 40/1
Trainer: John & Thady Gosden
Jockey: Tom Marquand
Well behind Delacroix when they met at two. Blew the start in the Dante but was doing his best work at the finish in fifth. Hard to see him making a huge impact round here and probably owes his less than generous price (20/1) to his connections. Dam did not get a yard beyond six furlongs but was a half-sister to a St Leger winner – work that one out.
Tennessee Stud 33/1
Trainer: Joseph O'Brien
Jockey: Dylan Browne McMonagle
Flat, jump, Ireland, the UK or Australia it makes no odds to his young trainer. A Group One winner at two – the one thing this Derby lacks – in the mud, he has a lot of ground to make up on Delacroix on their last start. Needs rain.
Tornado Alert 50/1
Trainer: Saeed bin Suroor
Jockey: Oisin Murphy
Fourth in the Guineas wins the Derby, goes the old saying. I think he will be treading water in the last quarter mile, but his trainer – who won this with Lammtarra in 1995, six years before the first of Aidan O'Brien's 10 – is keen.
New Ground 40/1
Trainer: Henri-Francois Devin
Jockey: Alexis Pouchin
French runner also supplemented on Monday. Appears to like some cut in the ground so might be praying for rain. Horse that beat him by a length in April was runner-up in French Derby on Sunday. By the same sire as Pride of Arras, should improve for trip and owners would not just be running for social outing so quietly respected without looking the likely winner.
Tuscan Hills 70/1
Trainer: Raphael Freire
Jockey: David Egan
Unbeaten in two starts at two but only seventh behind Pride of Arras in the Dante. Obviously he is entitled to come on for that but he has a lot to find. Owner Kia Joorabchian has gone close before with King of Steel who was also a 66-1 shot. Trainer would become the first Brazilian-born trainer to win the race in its 246 year history.
Al Wasl Storm 100/1
Trainer: Owen Burrows
Jockey: David Probert
Silks responsible for a number of long-priced runners-up in the race. Bred to get any trip, a mile and a half being the minimum. Owner entitled to tilt at windmills given record but this one might, in time, be better off with a few fences in front of him.
Lazy Griff 50/1
Trainer: Charlie Johnston
Jockey: Christophe Soumillon
Opened his account last summer at Beverley (as did Stanhope Gardens) and I am not sure how many Derby winners have done that. Beaten by Lambourn in the Chester Vase but is entitled to come on for that race without necessarily reversing the form. Ridden by the French maestro Christophe Soumillon whose CV pretty much only lacks the Derby.
Green Storm 200/1
Trainer: Charlie Johnston
Jockey: Billy Loughnane
Cost a snip at 12,000gns as a yearling but only one win from six starts puts him in here at 100-1. Does not have the pedigree nor the form to cause an Epsom upset and become the first Yorkshire trained winner since Dante in 1946. Any major influence on the race is likely to be getting in the way of something better.
Sea Scout 200/1
Trainer: Simon & Ed Crisford
Jockey: Harry Davies
Won the Epsom trial but put pretty firmly in his place in the Dante without any real excuse. Had already proven he can handle the track which is one thing but the Epsom trial does not have a great record at producing Derby winners in the modern era.
Nightime Dancer 200/1
Trainer: Richard Hannon
Jockey: Sean Levey
No match for two Ballydoyle runners in the Lingfield trial including Puppet Master. Trip should be fine but not good enough although there is invariably a big long shot who finishes in the money.
Rogue Impact 300/1
Trainer: James Owen
Jockey: Luke Morris
Beat Al Wasl Storm in a maiden on the all-weather, but 10 lengths behind Puppet Master in the Lingfield Trial getting very lit up in the race. Even if he handles the occasion, it is unlikely Luke Morris will be able to add this to his Arc win on Alborada.
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