Can Unbeaten Item End Aidan O’Brien’s Epsom Derby Dominance?
The Ballydoyle expert has won the British Champion Flat Trainer on eight occasions and leads the way for Derby victories. However, many believe O’Brien may find it difficult to beat Juddmonte’s unbeaten Item.
Item didn’t make his debut until September after reaching two years of age, but once he did, he made quite the impact.
In September, he won at both Kempton and Bath against an impressive field.
Colin Keane rode him on his debut to a three-and-a-half-length success over 7f at the all-weather track and the form has worked out quite well.
The runner-up, Devon Island, won his next two starts at Meydan and was placed in a Group 3, while the third and fifth placed horses have since scored in maiden/novice company.
Item, who is the son of Frankel, who many consider to be the greatest flat-racer ever, defied a penalty when he stepped up to a mile at Bath. He beat the now 83-rated Blue Courvoisier by three and a half lengths off level weights under Rob Hornby.
Item returned in the Dante at York a few weeks ago after missing Doncaster’s Futurity Trophy. Huge market support just before the off saw Item gain an 11-2 starting price and justified it by beating rivals by nearly three lengths to capture the Dante.
Item recorded a winning Racing Post Rating of 118 in the Dante over 1m2½f, a figure only beaten by Desert Crown (120, 2022), who landed the Derby on his next start, and subsequent Irish Champion Stakes winner Economics (119, 2024) in the past decade.
Item’s trainer Andrew Balding said: “Item is a horse we’ve always liked. We were going into the deep end a little bit with him at York, but he’s answered all the questions and I loved the way he went through the race. We were going to learn something, but I’m delighted with what we saw. I wasn’t surprised with his performance.”
Colin Keane, who is expected to partner Item at the Derby, is confident ahead of the race and said: “I don’t think the trip will be a problem, but Epsom is an unknown. York is a lovely galloping track; Epsom is up and down, it’s a hard test. But he’ll give himself every chance – he’s well balanced and travels well. It was a good performance at York, taking on horses who had already run this year on only his third start. He can only improve.”
Item is by Frankel, a dual British and Irish champion sire whose offspring are headed by brilliant middle-distance talents such as Cracksman, Alpinista, Minnie Hauk, Hurricane Lane and Adayar, the last-named a Derby hero in 2021.
Item is bred on the same Frankel-Lope De Vega cross as Derby favourite Benvenuto Cellini, being out of the Grade 1-winning Capla Temptress. That mare landed the Natalma Stakes in Canada as a juvenile and was beaten half a length into fourth in the following season’s Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.
Capla Temptress never went over further than a mile and a quarter, that attempt coming when a three-and-three-quarter-length seventh in the Belmont Oaks, although there is a bit of stamina in her page via Group/Graded-winning middle-distance performers Stotsfold and Supreme Sound, as well as Cesarewitch victor Top Cees.
Item was not stopping at the end of the Dante, and he should be a fascinating contender if lining up at Epsom, for all that it’ll be a big ask on just his fourth start and his stamina for a mile and a half is not entirely certain.
