Benvenuto Cellini may be in line for quick return at Royal Ascot
By Racing TV
Last Updated: Fri 12 Jun 2026
Controversial Derby non-runner Benvenuto Cellini could make a quick return to the track at Royal Ascot.
Although crossing the finishing line a well-beaten 10th in the hands of Ryan Moore as stablemate Christmas Day gave Aidan O’Brien a 12th victory in the Derby, the 3-1 favourite was declared a non-runner by the stewards around 20 minutes after the race.
His near hind-leg was briefly caught on the inside shelf of the stalls as the gates opened causing him to slightly miss the break, with the stewards using their discretionary power to declare a non-runner if a horse is “denied a fair start and its chances are materially affected”.
O’Brien could now use a route he has previously successfully taken with beaten Derby contenders Japan (2019) and Changingoftheguard (2022) in recent years, by giving Benvenuto Cellini the chance to regroup in the King Edward VII Stakes on the Friday of the Royal meeting.
O’Brien told his Attheraces stable tour: “There’s a chance he could run in the King Edward.
“We have to see how he is in the coming days, but we’re working back from the King George with him and we are worried that the ground for the Irish Derby could come up too soft for him.
“If everyone is happy with him in the coming days we might just send him to Ascot as we know he’ll get his favoured firmer ground there.”
It promises to be yet another big week for O’Brien, who is just four away from becoming the first man to train 100 winners at the meeting, and will hold a typically strong hand in the feature contests throughout the week.
Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Gstaad and Group One-winning stablemate Puerto Rico will bid to extend the Ballydoyle handler’s stellar record in the opening day’s St James’s Palace Stakes as they face off against the likes of Bow Echo, Talk Of New York and French Guineas scorer Rayif.
Meanwhile his two 1000 Guineas winners True Love and Precise will battle it out with the score locked at one apiece in Friday’s Coronation Stakes.
However, it is one of Classic heroines from last year that is set to play her part in a mouthwatering Prince of Wales’s Stakes on the Wednesday of the meeting, with dual Oaks champion Minnie Hauk out to avenge her narrow Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe reversal at the hands of Daryz in a race also featuring defending champion Ombudsman and Ed Walker’s Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Almaqam.
O’Brien said: “The Prince Of Wales’s Stakes has been her aim. We feel that the Tattersalls Gold Cup just didn’t play out well for her and we are prepared to forgive that run.
“She obviously stays further and a well-run race suits her well. Ascot should suit her well and we’re looking forward to seeing her in action.”
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