The Group I Epsom Derby was worth £2million this year with prizemoney offered down to tenth place and 14 runners took up the challenge in a drama filled race that saw the favoruite Benvenuto Cellini declared a non-starter.
The flashy Frankel colt was the number one seed for Coolmore, but got his leg up in the stalls as the starter let them go and missed the break. He made no real impact on the testing ground and stewards deemed him a non-starter, but that was far from the end of it for Aidan O’Brien, who also saddled Pierre Bonard (Camelot), Action (Frankel) and Christmas Day (Camelot).
It was the latter colt, Christmas Day, who lapped up the wet conditions and step out to the classic distance producing a tough staying performance to win the race for Ronan Whelan by two and three-quarter lengths over Maltese Cross (Sea the Stars ) and James J Braddock (Zarak), who ran well for Australian owners including Ozzie Kheir.
It was a 12th win in the Epsom Derby for Aidan O’Brien, but a first for Ronan Whelan.
“It's just very surreal. It just all went too easy and felt so smooth. I knew when the rain came Christmas Day would love it, and the stars aligned for me, really,’ said Whelan.
“It sounds weird saying it, but I had a really good feeling down at the start, I knew he felt great going to post, and I knew once I got up beside Wayne [Lordan] and I got into my flow, I knew I was going to run a big race after a couple of furlongs.
“Obviously, you never count your chickens until you pass the line. I suppose the beauty about being on the fourth string is there's a lot less pressure. If things don't go right, it's not the end of the world - nobody's expecting too much. It literally worked out how we thought it would, and he's done it easy and so smooth.”
Christmas Day was purchased for 450,000 guineas at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 1 by Jamie McCalmont from The Castlebridge Consignment and runs for the Coolmore partners.
“He’s always been a very good-looking horse, but an unassuming, uncomplicated one," said Aidan O'Brien.
"It isn’t always the obvious horse, I suppose that’s what makes it exciting, and Ronan gave him a great ride. He was always in the right position.
"We felt that the horse was better than he had shown in the Dante and he has form on soft ground, but he stays and he’s hard."
Christmas Day won two of four starts last season at two including a Group III success and returned to win the Group III Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown before his third in Group II York Dante Stakes prior to the Derby.
His overall record sits at four wins from seven starts and he becomes the first Epsom Derby winner for his sire Camelot, who won the Epsom Derby for Coolmore back in 2012.
Christmas Day is a half-brother to Group III winner Missed The Cut and is the second stakes-winner among four foals to race that are all winners from Beauly, a stakes-winning half-sister by Sea the Stars to stakes-winner Gusto from Group III winner Pickle.
He is the 14th Group I winner for Camelot, who stands at Coolmore at a fee of €60,000 and is the 12th Group I winner as a broodmare sire for Sea the Stars, who won the Epsom Derby in 2009.
