Benvenuto Cellini has been rated the second-best Irish Derby winner of the past decade after Timeform assessed Aidan O’Brien’s Curragh Classic winner at 124p.
The Frankel colt beat Epsom Derby hero Christmas Day by a length and three-quarters on Sunday, completing a Ballydoyle one-two-three in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and immediately strengthening his standing in a crowded middle-distance division.
The new figure, reported by Thoroughbred Daily News, is bettered in the last 10 runnings only by Westover, who was rated 127 after his 2022 Curragh success. It also lifts Benvenuto Cellini 6lb from his previous mark and puts him level with stablemate Constitution River, the French Derby winner.
King George Route Now Looks Obvious
The rating matters because Benvenuto Cellini arrived in Ireland still carrying the noise from Epsom, where he was controversially declared a non-runner after being sent off favourite. The Curragh performance did more than repair that file; it put him back among the season’s defining three-year-olds.
Timeform’s Irish handicapper Billy Nash pointed to the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a logical next step, echoing the route Westover took after his Irish Derby win. For O’Brien, whose team already dominates the summer picture, Benvenuto Cellini now gives Ballydoyle another elite option alongside Constitution River and Christmas Day.
ReadHorseRacing covered the immediate Curragh fallout after Benvenuto Cellini landed the Irish Derby, but this rating gives the result a sharper long-term edge.
