Frankel's Benvenuto Cellini triumphs in the Irish Derby

It was redemption day for Frankel colt Benvenuto Cellini, who was all class in the Gr.1 Irish Derby at The Curragh.

Taken from Thoroughbred Daily News 28th June 2026

Staged on safe, fast summer ground, the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby went the way of Aidan O'Brien as had 17 previous renewals since he took over at Ballydoyle, with a remarkable ninth one-two-three in the Classic for good measure.

“He's got a lot of quality and Epsom was just a mess,” Ryan Moore said. “It was an unusual set of circumstances and he had no hope there, but he's a beautiful mover and travelled into the race beautifully today. I produced him sooner than I would have liked, but when there is wind like there is today The Curragh gets complicated and you can't win from too far back.”

“He got to the front today quite easy and didn't quite know what to do,” he added. “He just rolled around a bit and the Derby winner didn't lay down–he's a proper horse and a real trier. We always always thought that Pierre had the class to win a Derby and although that hasn't worked out, he has come back,” he added. “We always felt that all three of them could win and on a different day under different circumstances any of them could have. This lad is still babyish, but he's learning and putting it all together and it'll be interesting to see what the future holds.”

Delivered four-wide wide entering the straight, the Champions Juvenile and Chester Vase winner was able to pick up the Epsom Derby winner Christmas Day with relative comfort approaching the furlong pole and may have been idling in the clear as he led the latest stable whitewash here. Christmas Day kept finding to be 1 3/4 lengths away, with Pierre Bonnard at last able to show his true colours in 2026, a neck away in third. The winning time was 2:28.33, making it the fifth fastest Irish Derby this century.

Benvenuto Cellini, who was becoming Frankel's third Irish Derby winner after Hurricane Lane in 2012 and Westover in 2022, was adding a second renewal of this Classic to his family's honour roll after Latrobe (Camelot) in 2018. He is the second foal out of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and Just a Game heroine Newspaperofrecord (Lope de Vega), with the first being the winner's full-sister Giselle who captured the Listed Lingfield Oaks Trial and finished third at Group 3 level.

The second dam is the Sceptre Stakes scorer and Cheveley Park Stakes runner-up Sunday Times (Holy Roman Emperor), whose Listed-placed half-sister Question Times by Lope De Vega's sire Shamardal was responsible for the aforementioned Latrobe (Camelot) and his multiple Group 1-placed full-sister Pink Dogwood whose son of Frankel Giant Sequoia took Saturday's Barronstown Stud Maiden at this Festival.

Newspaperofrecord's two-year-old full-sister to Benvenuto Cellini is named Sweetly, while she has 2025 and 2026 colts by Justify to follow.