Delacroix can burn off Derby rivals

Victory for the Dubawi colt would provide Aidan O’Brien with a record-extending 11th victory in the premier Classic

SMART OPERATOR: Delacroix was a seriously impressiive winner of  the Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial at Leopardstown last month, displaying attributes that should serve him well at Epsom.  Picture: Damien Eagers/PA 

Delacroix was beaten more often than he won as a juvenile, but Aidan O’Brien’s colt has taken his form to a new level this season and can confirm his status as a truly top-class performer by giving his trainer a record-extending 11th victory in the Betfred Derby, this year being run in memory of Aga Khan IV.

In five outings last season, he won a maiden at the second time of asking and a Group 3 in Newmarket, but was beaten in a maiden, a Group 2, and a Group 1. Those latter defeats, however, were in tight finishes and the evidence of his two runs to date this season suggest he is a more mature sort, who now knows how to win consistently.