Record-breaking recruits, sire on fire surprises and an unlikely appearance from a jumps stallion - five talking points from the early Derby entries

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There were 14,003 thoroughbred foals born between Britain and Ireland in 2022. Now, just 90 of those remain in contention for the 246th running of Flat racing’s most prestigious prize; the Derby. 

Although we are still a little over 11 weeks away from finding out who passes the Epsom winning post in front, the Classic entries reveal plenty about the key themes we are likely to see throughout the Turf season. 

There are any number of interesting subplots to explore, as well as one or two surprises that should pique the interest of bloodstock aficionados along the way, so here are five talking points from the early Epsom entries:

1. Derby dozen for sire on fire 

Thirty four different sires have sons among the possible contenders, with the most strongly represented a somewhat surprise inclusion at the top of the list. 

Wootton Bassett has only had two previous runners in the Derby, although one of those, King Of Steel, ran a mighty race to finish second to Auguste Rodin in 2023. The other fared less well, with Royal Patronage trailing home 16th of 17 behind Desert Crown in 2022. Nonetheless, no sire has more entries in this year’s race than Wootton Bassett’s 12. 

The shortest-priced of the stallion’s Derby dozen is Expanded, who was last seen finishing just a neck behind Shadow Of Light when runner-up in the Dewhurst Stakes. Next in is the unbeaten Twain, who is already among his sire’s 14 Group/Grade 1 winners after landing the Criterium International. 

We’ve heard so much about Wootton Bassett’s first Irish-bred crop that it would be easy to forget these are still his first three-year-olds since he transferred from Haras d'Etreham to Coolmore. The group has already achieved some remarkable things as last year they set a new record for the number of Group-winning two-year-olds in a single crop with a tally of ten. 

They include four top-flight winners, with the aforementioned Twain joined by Henri Matisse (Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf) and Tennessee Stud (Critérium de Saint-Cloud), both of whom are also in the Derby, as well as Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère scorer Camille Pissarro. 

When Wootton Bassett arrived in Ireland, the operation’s David O’Loughlin said: “We are thrilled that he is coming to Coolmore and are very excited about what he might achieve when paired with our Galileo mares.” Seven of his entries duly feature Galileo as damsire. 

Wootton Bassett: Coolmore sire has 12 entriesCredit: Coolmore

Wootton Bassett has already come a long way in a short space of time, and there would be no better way to consolidate a position among the stallion ranks’ elite than with a Derby winner. 

Next up in numerical terms are proven heavyweights Frankel and Dubawi, who are tied on nine entries apiece. 

Frankel already has one Derby winner to his name after Adayar struck in 2021, and has lightly raced, well-bred winners such as Damysus, Pinhole and Sallaal as possibles this time around. 

A Derby winner remains a glaring omission on Dubawi’s otherwise exemplary stud record, although he belatedly shook his Epsom hoodoo when Ezeliya won last year’s Oaks. 

His two shortest-priced runners in the ante-post list are both trained by Aidan O’Brien, with the master of Ballydoyle having entered Delacroix and Acapulco Bay. Dubawi’s son Too Darn Hot also boasts an eye-catching number of contenders with six. 

2. Galileo still looms large

In year’s gone by Galileo would have been long odds-on to dominate the Epsom entries. But with the late, great 12-time champion sire having passed away in July 2021, this will be his final Classic crop. Two of the 13 foals Galileo sired in 2022 figure among the Derby hopefuls, and there would be no more fitting winner than the appropriately named Last Galileo. 

The colt was bred by Coolmore but carries the colours of Zhang Yuesheng of Yulong Investments after his €200,000 yearling sale transfer. His career got off to a promising start as he won an Ayr novice event on his second of two outings at two for Karl Burke. Last Galileo’s pedigree suggests he will make a better three-year-old as his siblings have tended to improve with time and distance, including Group 3 Irish St Leger Trial winner Delphi, who later landed the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes in Australia. 

The other Galileo colt still in the Derby is the unraced Lombardi Trophy, who is a member of the Donnacha O'Brien stable. The Coolmore homebred is a brother to four winners, most notably the Listed-winning Easter Lily and the Group 3-placed Circling. 

Auguste Rodin: 2023 Derby winner is a grandson of GalileoCredit: Edward Whitaker

Of course, Galileo’s influence extends far beyond the runners he could potentially have lining up in this year’s race. Five of his sire sons are represented, with Frankel joined by Australia, Circus Maximus, Nathaniel and Ulysses, who all have one entry apiece. 

Galileo has been the broodmare sire of the last two winners, namely City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin, and based on the current line-up he has 21 chances (23 per cent of the field) to bring up the hat-trick of Derby winners as a damsire. Among the 21 Galileo mares with progeny entered are Group 1 winners Great Heavens (dam of Noble Horizon), Hydrangea (Officer) and her sister Hermosa (Trinity College). 

All told, 49 of the 90 entries (54 per cent) have Galileo blood in their immediate pedigree. These include ante-post favourite The Lion In Winter. The unbeaten Acomb Stakes winner boasts an interesting lineage as he is by Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars, while his dam is out of a daughter of Galileo, meaning he is inbred 2x4 to the breed-shaping blue hen Urban Sea. 

In truth, the chances of either Last Galileo or Lombardi Trophy providing their sire with a record enhancing sixth Derby winner appear relatively slim at present. However, given his awesome influence continues to spread, there is a distinct possibility he will make his presence felt one way or another nonetheless. 

3. First-crop hopefuls

Plenty of column inches have already been committed to unpicking last year’s first-season sire standings. And with good reason, given a whole host of stallions finished the campaign with something to recommend them, albeit without a standout or two breaking clear of the pack. 

Coming up with a Derby winner in your first crop would be one way to make a name for yourself, and six first-crop sires feature among the hopefuls. 

Circus Maximus was not among those who threw their hat into the ring to be considered the best of last year’s new sires, having come up with just four winners across Europe. He has already vacated the Coolmore roster. 

However, the best of his winners, Green Storm, could be Derby bound after a juvenile season that ended by finishing second of three runners in the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. 

Ghaiyyath has a big year with his first three-year-oldsCredit: Patrick McCann

Ghaiyyath’s progeny were always liable to benefit from a bit of time, and the champion son of Dubawi duly ended last season with growing momentum. He has three Epsom entries, including Autumn Stakes second Stanhope Gardens, who has Epsom form in his pedigree being out of a sibling to Derby third Romsdal. Owen Burrows’ Gethin looked every inch a Classic prospect when running out a wide-margin winner of a Nottingham novice, while Andrew and Julia Turner’s homebred Ivatt is also still in the mix. 

Kameko got off to a flying start and has already come up with two top-flight performers in Grade 1 Summer Stakes scorer New Century and Futurity Trophy third Wimbledon Hawkeye. Both colts could enhance their respective records should they take up their Classic engagement. 

There were shades of yesteryear when a Kentucky based stallion claimed last year’s Derby, and Justify’s Ashford Stud barnmate Maximum Security has a representative this time around courtesy of the Kenny McPeek-trained Maximum Promise. 

Persian King has already enhanced his reputation in 2025 having come up with a breakthrough black-type winner when Yeguada Centurion homebred Darius Cen ran away with the Listed Prix Omnium II at Saint Cloud earlier this week. He could be represented at Epsom by the as-yet unraced Al Mumayaz. 

Only Sergei Prokofiev among last year’s freshmen had more European two-year-olds winners than the 22 Pinatubo sired. One of those 22, the well-bred Saddadd, has been given the Derby option, as has Mario Baratti’s unraced Enea, who is also in the Grand Prix de Paris and the Prix du Jockey Club. 

4. Al Shaikh at it again

Owner Ahmad Al Shaikh has built up an enviable Derby record with some shrewdly bought recruits. 

In 2020 Khalifa Sat, a €40,000 yearling buy, finished second to runaway winner Serpentine, while Hoo Ya Mal, a 40,000gns pick up, filled the same spot behind Desert Crown two years later. 

And last year his colours filled fourth and fifth with Deira Mile and Sayedaty Sadaty, the pair having been picked up for 47,000gns and €30,000 respectively. 

Ahmad Al Shaikh: has quite the Derby record with shrewd purchasesCredit: Edward Whitaker

A few of these names were subsequently traded for a significant profit, including Hoo Ya Mal, who joined the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable at a cost of £1,200,000 at the Goffs London Sale. 

Al Shaikh will really outdo himself if either of his entries make this year’s race. The aforementioned Al Mumayaz was bought with bloodstock agent Federico Barberini for €25,000, but it is his other entrant, Al Wasl Storm, whose inclusion really catches the eye. 

Not only was he bought for just €7,000 as a foal, but he came from a most unlikely source of Classic contenders. Al Shaikh was shopping at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale when he found Al Wasl Storm, whose pedigree appears better suited to Cheltenham rather than Epsom. 

He is by Affinisea, who is best known as the sire of smart jumpers Affordale Fury, Only By Night and Sixmilebridge. His dam, Dearborn, does have some Flat black type in her pedigree, being out of Princess Roseburg, a Listed-placed Johannesburg half-sister to Acomb Stakes scorer Bourbonnais. However, it would be quite something if Martaline emerged as the broodmare sire of a Derby winner. 

Al Shaikh has been rewarded for his ambitious campaigning of Khalifa Sat and Hoo Ya Mal, but Al Wasl Storm really would throw the cat among the pigeons if he were to show up well at Epsom. 

5. Money talks

The breeze-up sales have produced all manner of high-class horses in recent times, including Classic winners Cachet, Harbour Law, Native Trail and Teppal. And could this be the year that a Derby winner emerges from the two-year-old sales? 

Past graduates have gone close before, with Ambiente Friendly finishing second to City Of Troy last year, while Libertarian filled the same position behind Ruler Of The World back in 2013. 

The breeze-ups appear to have a particularly strong hand at this stage in proceedings, with Ruling Court looking primed for a Classic campaign. The colt is by the same sire as last year’s winner in Justify, and was added to the Godolphin ranks at a cost of €2,300,000 at Arqana last May, making him the most expensive horse in European breeze-up sale history. 

He has suggested he may yet live up to that price tag as an impressive winning debut at Sandown was followed up with a third place finish to The Lion In Winter in the Acomb Stakes. He showed the benefit of his winter break by reappearing with a bloodless victory in the Listed Jumeirah 2,000 Guineas at Meydan.

Ruling Court: breeze-up graduate holds legitimate Derby claimsCredit: Godolphin

Another breeze-up graduate also figures prominently in the betting, and that is Hotazhell. The son of Too Darn Hot cost the Silverton Hill Partnership 200,000gns at last year’s Craven Sale, and proved that money well spent by winning the Tyros and Beresford Stakes before ending his juvenile campaign with Group 1 success in the Futurity Trophy. 

Unsurprisingly Ruling Court is not the only big-money purchase whose connections still harbour Derby dreams. Topping Book 1 of the prestigious Tattersalls October Yearling Sale comes with its own set of lofty expectations, and they have been attached to Galveston ever since the son of Frankel was knocked down to MV Magnier and White Birch Farm at 2,000,000gns in 2023. 

The youngster opened his account at the second time of asking when making all to land a Naas maiden on his second start. 

Twenty four hours before they purchased Galveston, Magnier and White Birch gave 950,000gns for Roosevelt, who also remains in the Derby picture despite not having yet reached the racecourse. 

Although the horses with flashy price tags tend to catch the eye, it is worth noting that at this stage, the entries are split absolutely evenly between public auction purchases and homebreds (or private purchases), with 45 names in each camp. 

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Pedigree pick

A dozen runners have assembled for what looks a competitive heat in the Boost Your Acca At BetMGM Novice Stakes over a mile at Southwell at 5.25pm. 

Derby entry Gunship, a half-brother to Phoenix Of Spain, is one of two previous winners in the field, along with Michael Scofield, who is representing the Michael O’Callaghan’s Curragh stable. 

But arguably the most eye-catching newcomer in the field is Prepare To Strike, a Rabbah Bloodstock homebred who will sport the colours of Dr Ali Ridha. The Simon and Ed Crisford-trained three-year-old is by Kingman and is the first foal out of the same owner’s Powerful Breeze. 

The daughter of Iffraaj only managed three starts in a truncated racing career but she still showed well above average ability. On debut she defied odds of 20-1 to readily land a novice event at Newmarket’s July Course before heading to Doncaster a few weeks later to claim the Group 2 May Hill Stakes. 

Powerful Breeze’s third and final start came in the Group 1 Fillies' Mile, in which she went down by just a neck behind Quadrilateral, with subsequent four-time Group 1 winner Love among those in arrears. 

If Prepare To Strike has inherited even a fraction of his dam’s considerable ability he should make his presence felt on debut. 

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