Bonnard to finish with a flourish in the Derby

AIDAN O’Brien’s grip on the world’s most famous Flat race, the Betfred Derby (4.00pm), shows no signs of loosening.

The Master of Ballydoyle has won the last three renewals of the Classic with Auguste Rodin, City Of Troy and Lambourn and has 11 Derby wins in total, more than any other trainer.

This year, O’Brien has seven of the 17 runners currently entered and while not all those will take their chance, there will still be a Ballydoyle battalion charging around Tattenham Corner a little after 4pm on Saturday.

Their number one runner, and the likely pick of jockey Ryan Moore, looks to be BENVENUTO CELLINI.

He bombed out in the Futurity Stakes on heavy ground at the end of last season, but looked an improved horse when relishing the step up in trip in the Chester Vase on his reappearance.

That contest was the same one Lambourn took en route to Derby glory last year, and he looks to have leading claims.

However, at a general 7/4, he is short enough in my book and that means I’ll be looking for something else to come out on top.

Stablemate PIERRE BONNARD appeals as the type of horse that will relish this testing mile-and-a-half.

After we baked in the heatwave last week, this week has brought unsettled weather with plenty of rain, and more looks set to fall as we approach Derby Day.

That could mean we are faced with soft ground at Epsom, making it even more of an exacting test of stamina for these three-year-olds.

Any horse that wins on heavy ground over a mile-and-a-quarter as a two-year-old is a proper stayer, and Pierre Bonnard did just that when landing the Group OneCriterium de Saint-Cloud back in October last year.

With the race tactics employed by Coolmore likely to see the breeding operation use one or more of their runners as a pacemaker, the gallop could be unrelenting from the off, and the harder they go the more it will suit Pierre Bonnard.

I can see the scenario where he sweeps through to pick up the pieces late on and he would be my main bet for this year’s Derby, each-way at around the 6/1 mark.

Juddmonte’s Item currently splits Benvenuto Cellini and Pierre Bonnard in the market and he is undoubtably a talented horse after three wins from three starts.

He ran on well to win the Dante at York with a good bit in hand last month, but there have to be stamina doubts about stepping up to this trip for the first time on soft ground, especially with the Coolmore horses likely to make his life difficult.

At the prices, I can pass him over and instead look further down the field for something else to fill the frame and complete our trifecta.

Maltese Cross won the Lingfield Derby Trial but may like better ground, and Bay Of Brilliance, who chased him home that day, is of more interest as a former soft ground winner.

However, I think it could be an Irish first three in this year’s Derby and the Joseph O’Brien-trained JAMES J BRADDOCK is the one that can fill the places.

He defeated Pierre Bonnard in a Group Three on good ground at the Curragh last month, staying on well to just get the verdict, and looks another sure to stay this trip well.

His stamina should see him involved in the finish, but Pierre Bonnard might now be able to reverse the form if getting his ideal soft ground conditions.

Bill Esdaile’s Derby 1-2-3

1 – PIERRE BONNARD

2 – BENVENUTO CELLINI

3 – JAMES J BRADDOCK