Aidan O’Brien has won the Epsom Derby four years running, a sequence completed when Christmas Day landed the 2026 renewal on the Downs. No trainer had managed four in a row before in the race’s long history. O’Brien’s first Derby came back in 2001 with Galileo, and 25 years on he is still adding to a record that now stands at 12 wins.
The Derby reaches an audience far beyond dedicated racing fans. It is shown live on terrestrial television and followed by every UK-licensed operator with racing and sport, including Virgin Bet. Run over 1m4f at Epsom for three-year-olds, it remains the race every Flat trainer wants on their record.
In this article, we look back at the four colts who delivered O’Brien’s record-breaking sequence.
2023: Auguste Rodin
The run began with Auguste Rodin, who had finished near the back of the field in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket only a month earlier. O’Brien kept faith, and Ryan Moore guided the colt to a half-length win over outsider King of Steel. It was O’Brien’s ninth Derby as a trainer. Auguste Rodin went on to add the Irish Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Turf later that year, confirming the form was no fluke.
2024: City Of Troy
A year later, the story repeated almost exactly. City Of Troy had also run poorly in the 2,000 Guineas before bouncing back to win the Derby by nearly three lengths from Ambiente Friendly. O’Brien admitted afterwards that he had got the colt’s Newmarket preparation wrong. The win was his 10ᵗʰ Derby, taking him beyond the nine of Lester Piggott, the most successful jockey in the race’s history. City Of Troy later beat older horses in both the Eclipse and the Juddmonte International.
2025: Lambourn
In 2025, O’Brien saddled several runners, and it was Lambourn rather than the stable’s favourite Delacroix who came home in front. Wayne Lordan rode his first Derby winner, with Lambourn, a previous Chester Vase winner, beating Lazy Griff and Tennessee Stud. It followed a pattern that had become familiar at Epsom, with O’Brien’s less-fancied runner outperforming his more expensive stablemates. The result gave the Ballydoyle trainer an 11ᵗʰ Derby.
2026: Christmas Day
The fourth win came on a rain-soaked afternoon at Epsom, in the 247ᵗʰ running. Christmas Day, a son of O’Brien’s 2012 Derby winner Camelot, handled the soft ground far better than his more fancied stablemates and won by two and three-quarter lengths from Maltese Cross under Ronan Whelan. The favourite, O’Brien’s own Benvenuto Cellini, was later declared a non-runner after getting a hind leg caught as the stalls opened. Victory gave O’Brien a 12ᵗʰ Derby and the 50th British Classic of his career.
What links all four is the strength in depth at Ballydoyle, where O’Brien regularly runs several horses and lets the race decide between them. Owners Sue Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith became the first to win four consecutive Derbies in the process.