Friday sees one of the most anticipated meetings of the British Racing season get underway as Epsom stages the two-day Derby Festival. For the three-year-old colts and fillies, this cracking fixture represents a shot at the history books. Who will be the next to etch their name onto the list of Classic winners?
Given the global prestige, significant prize money, and sizeable impact on the breeding value of the winners, the Oaks and the Derby quite rightly take centre stage. However, it isn’t all about the Classic contenders. Epsom ensures the older performers are given their chance to shine over the Derby course and distance in the opening day contest of the Coronation Cup.
First run in 1902, this £450,000 event is open to runners aged four years and older and invariably attracts a stellar cast. Following the final declarations, seven runners remain in contention in 2025, with a talented French raider strongly fancied to join the likes of Mill Reef, St Nicholas Abbey, and Rainbow Quest on the roll of honour.
Gold for Graffard?
Way out on his own at the head of the market in 2025 is a horse hailing from the yard of a French trainer who made waves on the British racing scene in 2024. Francis-Henri Graffard had previously achieved success on British soil with Watch Me (2019 Coronation Stakes) and The Revenant (2020 Queen Elizabeth Stakes) but had never before bagged two significant British events in the same season.
Goliath was the horse who made the biggest splash when mastering a field including Auguste Rodin and Arc heroine Bluestocking in the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes. However, it is the gelding who set the ball rolling in the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot who is a general 8/11 chance in this event
Many runners enhanced their reputations at Royal Ascot 2024, but perhaps none so spectacularly as this son of Gleneagles. Sent off as a well-fancied 11/2 shot, the mount of Stephane Pasquier proved in a different league to his 13 rivals. Six lengths was the margin of superiority in that Group 2 affair as the colt booked his ticket for the major Group 1s to come.
Having failed to hit the target in three subsequent attempts in Group 1 company, some may suggest that Calandagan doesn’t deserve his odds-on status in such a prestigious event. However, he couldn’t have come much closer in those three outings – finishing a close second to City Of Troy, Anmaat, and Japanese star Danon Decile. Three pounds clear of the field on official ratings, a repeat of any of those efforts may make him tough to beat.
Classic Winners Lurk Amongst the Opposition
Whenever a Group 1 prize is on the line, Aidan O’Brien is rarely far away. First tasting victory with Yeats in 2005 and most recently with Luxembourg in 2024, O’Brien’s total of nine Coronation Cup wins makes him the most successful trainer in the history of the race.
The Ballydoyle maestro sends two runners into battle in 2025, both of whom have a Classic win to their name. Leading the charge is the choice of Ryan Moore, Jan Brueghel. Unraced as a two-year-old, this son of Galileo proved to be worth the wait in 2024. Kicking off with an eight-length romp at the Curragh, he ended the season with a perfect four-from-four record.
The clear highlight of those victories came on his final outing when toughing it out to deny stablemate Illinois in the St Leger Stakes. He lost his unbeaten record on his seasonal return in the Alleged Stakes but should strip fitter for that outing and will appreciate this step up in trip.
Twelve months before Jan Brueghel, Continuous added his name to O’Brien’s list of Classic winners when powering to success in the St Leger. Whilst undoubtedly talented over this trip, as evidenced by his close fifth in the 2023 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, he appears to have gone off the boil in 2025. Last of nine in the Tattersalls Gold Cup last time out, much better will be required to take a hand in this.
Rounding out the Classic winning trio in the 2025 Coronation Cup field is the Ralph Beckett-trained You Got To Me, who achieved her finest hour when claiming the 2024 Irish Oaks. A step up in trip for the St Leger didn’t work out on her final outing at three, but her form figures in Group 1 events over 1m4f read a respectable 412.
Botti Star the Best of The Rest
As a Group 1 winning juvenile who finished a reasonable eighth in the 2024 Derby, Charlie Appleby’s Ancient Wisdom is tough to dismiss entirely. Bellum Justum, meanwhile, boasts fair form at this track, having claimed the 2024 Blue Riband Trial and finished one spot ahead of Ancient Wisdom in the main event.
However, if the race is to fall to a runner other than the favourite or those with a Classic win on their CV, Marco Botti’s Giavellotto may be the horse most likely. Whilst best known for claiming back-to-back Yorkshire Cup victories over 1m6f, his only Group 1 success came over this distance in the 2024 Hong Kong Vase.
The runners go under starters orders at 2:40 pm on Friday, in what is a fascinating appetiser ahead of the Oaks main course.
