Epsom Derby 2026 betting: Best bets and tips for Classic

The Derby meeting gets underway at Epsom with a Classic on Friday June 5, the Oaks and of course the Derby itself on Saturday.

Aidan O’Brien is looking to win again as his domination of this prestigious race continues.

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The Irish trainer has won three in a row with Lambourn, City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin all winning at single digit figures including 2024’s 3/1 favourite.

Favourites at the Derby are usually there for a huge number of factors but it is quite rare to see them win.

That said, there’s been two such winners in the last four renewals with Desert Crown also winning as the leading bet of the day in 2022.

You’d have to go back to 2015 when the last Derby winner won as the leading contender in the odds though, and that was the famous Golden Horn who won at 13/8.

O’Brien sends out Benvenuto Cellini who has steadily become the clear shot for punters, but could there be a shock on the cards?

Epsom Derby racing tips

While following the trends of certain races is paramount to horse racing at times, there’s often a case for one year being an anomaly.

Or a horse that just produces that extra something against the odds.

Serpentine winning at 25/1 and Wings Of Eagles in 2017 winning at 40/1 could be examples of going against the main trends.

The trends can still guide us a little this year but because they’re only three-year-olds there’s still so much to learn about these talented crop of horses.

Ten of the last 12 winners were drawn in stall 7 or higher which is a notable advantage and something to keep an eye on when the final declarations are made and stalls are drawn.

Course form isn’t necessary, in fact none of the last 12 had a run at Epsom, but that tends to be the case in the way the routes are planned for much of these horses prepping for the big 1m4f contest.

Pierre Bonnard

Ticks a lot of boxes for punters, trends and prices – trained by O’Brien only at 8/1 and holds a lot of promise despite not winning his first two starts.

And that 8/1 price will look like huge value when the final field gets narrowed down from the current 88 still entered into the contest down to a maximum of 20.

Remains a strong shout despite those losses and that should give an inclination as to the potential he still possesses if bouncing back.

He was a strong favourite for this race not that long ago and given excuses for those two losses at Leopardstown in April and May, he’ll have to improve over the step up to a mile and a half, and he has been aimed and bred specifically for this trip.

He will much prefer a stronger run race than that at Leopardstown last time out, and there he only lost by a short head.

And in April, he clearly needed the run and it was the typical and yearly issue of horses from O’Brien who just aren’t quite firing so early in the season.

If you’re also looking for pedigree then this horse has positives in abundance too.

He is sired by Camelot and out of New Approach, who was Galileo’s first Derby winner in 2008.

Item

It’s hard to discount such a horse who is linked to Galileo, the most successful sire of the Epsom Derby.

Item is by Frankel, who was sired by Galileo and that pedigree is always an expensive one, one you cannot ignore.

Add to that, Item has gone unbeaten in three each by convincing margins including on the step up in trip at York to 1m2f, beating some promising O’Brien-trained horses comfortably.

As a result he went in from a big price to now being the second favourite, and these two horses Item and Pierre Bonnard will be my bets for the Derby on Saturday, June 6.

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Tom Lunn’s Horse Racing Profit & Loss

• March ’26: +11.31pts
• From October ’25: +38.46pts
• From March ’25: +109.76pts
• From Oct ’23: +419.61pts

All odds correct at time of writing

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