Dante Stakes Trends: Key Stats To Find The Big York Winner

See below the key Dante Stakes trends to help find the winner of the big Derby trial at York on Thursday.

Just apply these stats to the final Dante Stakes runners, which will showcase the best winning profiles based on past winners of the race.

Dante Stakes Trends and Stats – 70% Of Winners Returned 8/1 Or Shorter (in last 23)

19/22 – Winners that went onto run in the Epsom Derby (4 won)
19/23 – Finished third or better last time out
16/23 – Returned 8/1 or shorter in the betting
15/23 – Had a previous race that season
15/23 – Won their previous race
10/22 – Went onto be placed in the Epsom Derby
5/23 – Had won over 1m2f before
5/23 – Winning favourites (1 joint)
4/22 – Went onto win the Epsom Derby
3/23 – Won by trainer Aidan O’Brien (won it 4 times in all)
3/23 – Won by jockey Ryan Moore
3/23 – Trained by John Gosden (3 of last 11 runnings)
3/23 – Ridden by William Buick
3/23 – Ridden by Oisin Murphy (3 of the last 8)
2/23 – Winners from stall 2
2/23 – Trained the Johnston yard (Mark/Charlie) (2 of last 9)
1/23 – Had run at York before
Just 3 winning favourites in the last 18 runnings (1 joint)
Desert Crown (2022) and Golden Horn (2015) were the last Dante winners to go onto win the Epsom Derby
11 Dante Stakes winners in total have gone onto win the Epsom Derby
2025 Winner: PRINCE OF ARRAS (18/1)

Dante Stakes Race Details 2026

📅Date: Thursday 14th May 2026
⌚Time: 4:05pm
🏇Racecourse: York
🔄Trip: 1m 2 1/2f
💷Winner: £102,078
📺 TV: ITV/RTV

The Dante Stakes Has Been A Good Epsom Derby Trial

The Dante Stakes is widely considered one of the premier Derby trials on the calendar-and the stats back that up.

Eleven horses have pulled off the Dante-Derby double, with Desert Crown being the most recent to do it in 2022.

If you look back through the years, it’s a “who’s who” of turf legends.

Names like Golden Horn, Authorized, Motivator, and North Light all used a victory here as the perfect springboard to glory at Epsom.

That said, it isn’t always a direct ticket to the winner’s circle. Last year gave us a bit of a reality check when the shock 18/1 winner, Pride Of Arras, failed to fire at Epsom, trailing home a disappointing 17th of 18.

Keep an eye on the guys in the saddle, too. Oisin Murphy, William Buick, and Ryan Moore are the ones to beat here-they’ve all notched three wins apiece in the race.

Dante/Derby Winners

1960 – St Paddy
1978 – Shirley Heights
1986 – Shahrastani
1987 – Reference Point
1994 – Erhaab
1997 – Benny The Dip
2004 – North Light
2005 – Motivator
2007 – Authorized
2015 – Golden Horn
2022 – Desert Crown

WATCH: Desert Crown Winning The 2022 Dante Stakes Before Landing the Epsom Derby

Trainer Aidan O’Brien Hasn’t Won The Dante Stakes Since 2010

The Aidan O’Brien team had a top time of it at the Chester May Festival last week – and have an array of riches to take in the Epsom Derby this season.

They are set to unleash another in the Dante Stakes on Thursday – Christmas Day, who was last seen winning the Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown in April (watch below).

And with the form of that race being franked since with the 5th James J Braddock winning Sunday’s Cashel Palace Hotel Derby Trial Stakes, then Christmas Day could be another present for Ballydoyle in the Dante.

However, despite winning the big York race four times in the past – O’Brien’s most recent Dante Stakes win came in 2010 with Cape Blanco.

Who later went onto win the Irish Derby that season at the Curragh – having bypassed Epsom.

Aidan O’Brien Dante Stakes Winners

1998 – Saratoga Springs
2006 – Septimus
2009 – Black Bear Island
2010 – Cape Blanco

Just Three Winning Dante Stakes Favourites In The Last 18 Runnings

The Dante Stakes trends also tell us that it’s not been a great race for the favourites recently.

With only three winning market leaders going in over the last 18 renewals.

Desert Crown was joint-favourite in 2022, while before him Roaring Lion (2018) was the last winning jolly in 2018 – winning as the 3/1 favourite.

However, last year’s shortest-priced Dante Stakes runner – The Lion In Winter (8/11)- could only manage 6th behind the shock 18/1 winner Pride Of Arras (watch below).