Balding excited by Derby challenge with Item
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Tue 19 May 2026
Andrew Balding is excited to take on the challenge of Epsom in the Betfred Derby with Dante hero Item.
The son of Frankel remained unbeaten when making a thrilling return in the Knavesmire’s feature trial for the blue riband Classic and having comfortably dealt with a first step into deeper waters, will now be prepared to try to win racing’s most famous prize.
Item’s Dante victory saw him installed as the 5-1 second-favourite for the Derby where the Juddmonte-owned colt will bid to end Aidan O’Brien domination of the mile-and-a-half showpiece.
Balding said: “We were really pleased, it was a great performance and he’s an exciting horse to look forward to for the rest of the season.
“I didn’t expect it, but we were hoping for a performance like that and it was lovely.
“We’ll hopefully head to Epsom now and it’s a course that will provide a proper test. I would be confident of him getting a mile and a half, but it’s a different story around there in a big competitive field so we’ll see how we get on.”
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