---
title: "Derby Hero Lambourn Makes Winning Return in Chester’s Group 2 Huxley Stakes"
canonical: "https://readhorseracing.com/2026/05/08/lambourn-winning-return-chester-group-2-huxley-stakes/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Andy Newton"
section: "News"
published: "2026-05-08T14:25:02Z"
modified: "2026-05-08T14:25:02Z"
---

# Derby Hero Lambourn Makes Winning Return in Chester’s Group 2 Huxley Stakes

**Dual Derby winner Lambourn returned to Chester with another victory on Friday, making a successful seasonal comeback in the Deepbridge Huxley Stakes over 1m2f70y on good ground.**

## **Lambourn Back To Winning Ways With Huxley Stakes Win at Chester**

Lambourn made a winning return to action in the Group 2 Deepbridge Huxley Stakes at Chester on Friday, giving Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore another notable May Festival success with a colt whose profile was built around this course 12 months ago.

The four-year-old came back to the Roodee for his first run of the 2026 campaign after last season’s Chester Vase, [Epsom Derby](https://readhorseracing.com/2026/05/08/epsom-derby-betting-odds/) and Irish Derby victories.

Friday’s Huxley asked him to restart over a shorter trip than the Classic distances that defined his 2025 peak, with first-time cheekpieces added for the comeback.

The race was run for a first prize of £96,407 and attracted a nine-runner field.

Among the better-known opposition were Bay City Roller, King’s Gambit, Royal Rhyme and Starford, all of whom added depth to one of the sharper middle-distance contests on the final day of [Chester’s May Meeting](https://readhorseracing.com/2026/05/05/chester-may-festival-date-2026-full-race-schedule-running-order/).

### **Huxley Stakes Result 2026**

**🥇LAMBOURN (6/4 fav)**\
**🥈Bay City Roller (9/2)**\
**🥉Ice Max (16/1)**

Winning Trainer: Aidan O’Brien\
Winning Jockey: Ryan Moore

["Lambourn's back!" 🌟 Derby hero battles bravely to Chester victory in Huxley Stakes! (embedded)](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/uN1Zvcm_8Vo?feature=oembed)

#### **Huxley Stakes Key Facts and Race Details**

- Race: Deepbridge Huxley Stakes (Group 2)
- Venue: Chester
- Date: Friday, 8 May 2026
- Distance: 1m 2f 70y
- Going: Good
- Runners: 9
- Winner: Lambourn
- Trainer: Aidan O’Brien
- Jockey: Ryan Moore
- First prize: £96,407

## **Lambourn Provided Ryan Moore With a Nineth Huxley Stakes Win**

![Ryan Moore](https://media.readhorseracing.com/readhorseracing/2026/03/neimxqWvU22R-300x220.webp)

Ryan Moore

Lambourn’s return mattered not just because it produced another black-type success, but because it showed he could begin his new season with a clean, straightforward win at a track already closely linked to his rise.

Chester again served as an important marker for the horse’s campaign, even in a race shorter than the trips over which he made his name last year.

Lambourn remains one of the more recognisable middle-distance horses in training after his Derby and Irish Derby double, so any successful comeback immediately reshapes the early-summer older-horse picture.

A Group 2 win on return also strengthens confidence that he has trained on from three to four.

For Chester, the result added another high-profile race to a meeting that continues to act as a staging post for major Flat performers.

While for O’Brien and Moore, it was another reminder that the May Festival remains a productive stop for horses with bigger summer targets.

Moore was recording a record extending nineth win in the Huxley Stakes, having first won the Chester race in 2009 with Doctor Freemantle.

And Lambourn’s win game Aidan O’Brien a fifth success in the Group Two, with Await The Dawn his first in 2011.

## **WATCH: Lambourn Winning The 2025 Epsom Derby**

[FULL RACE & REACTION: Lambourn wins the 2025 Betfred Derby | ITV Racing (embedded)](https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/tTGTB1nwYCw?feature=oembed)