Four of the first five in the betting for the Derby are trained at Ballydoyle by the record holder of eleven Derby titles, while in the Oaks Amelia Earheart and Diamond Necklace dominate the market if not the form – and there lies hope for all those dreaming of halting the Coolmore juggernaut. The one unbeaten horse towards the top of the Derby betting is Dante Stakes (Gr2) winner Item, trained by Andrew Balding at Kingsclere where his esteemed father Ian, trainer of the unforgettable Mill Reef, was lately laid to rest.

Andrew Balding is currently leading the trainer`s table but will be caught if one of the phalanx of O`Brien runners takes this year`s 247th £2million Derby. Balding fields Item (by Frankel) game winner of what is regarded as the top trial, the Dante Stakes at York, leading home a pair of O`Brien runners and inserting himself among four O`Brien`s, Benvenuto Cellini, Constitution River, Maltese Cross and Pierre Bonnard at the head of the Derby betting. For the Oaks O`Brien`s Amelia Earheart, Diamond Necklace and Cameo are currently leading Legacy Link (John Gosden) and Venetian Lace (Charlie Johnston).

The way Coolmore shuffles the pack of who rides what, does not always come up trumps for their number one rider, Ryan Moore. Acknowledged as the best jockey in the world Moore has only been champion three times and not since 2009 but that is solely down to him concentrating on the cream of Coolmore`s crop and the succession of Group One races they have commandeered. And even then Coolmore, the world`s leading horse enterprise, racing and breeding, is not always infallible. Yes, Ryan Moore is always on the preferred Derby candidate but in recent years that hasn`t defined the O`Brien challenge. Since 2017: Lambourn (13/2) last year was given to Wayne Lordan and before them Serpentine (25-1) was unsung Emmet McNamara`s partner; Anthony Van Dyke (13-2) was under Seamus Heffernan; Wings of Eagles (40-1) the virtually unknown Padraig Beggy, have al somehow slipped under the radar and downed Coolmore`s first choice.

You never forget the first – of anything so they say – and Galileo in 2001 was the first Derby winner for O`Brien. Only joint favourite with Michael Kinane aboard, Galileo stamped himself on the race, as he was to do likewise on the breeding world for the next two and a half decades. The next year the Coolmore favourite Hawk Wing was undone by stable mate High Chaparral, second favourite.

Galileo and High Chaparral both won the Leopardstown Trial (Gr3) won narrowly this year by Aidan O`Brien`s son Joseph with James J Braddock. He just beat his father`s winter Derby favourite Pierre Bonnard and yet is no better than fifth best in the Derby betting. At the head of the market and, perhaps presumptuously, reckoned the leading Coolmore fancy is Benvenuto Cellini (by Frankel). He took the Group 3 Trial, the Chester Vase though in no more taking style than stablemate Constitution River (by Wootton Bassett) landed the Chester Vase (Listed).

For many watchers the performance in the Dante of Item, carrying the Juddmonte colours worn by his sire Frankel, and warding off two O`Brien challengers should have translated into Derby favouritism. There is a slight doubt that his dam`s side is not robust enough to ensure Item is true stayer – the quality every Derby winner must have. Then again Item is bred on exactly the same lines as current Derby favourite Benvenuto Cellini – both being Frankels out of Lope de Vega mares. It will be a poser for breeding students if one stays the Epsom twelve furlongs and the other doesn`t. If both don`t (!) then the Derby is wide wide open – again.

One point to make; unlike the unbeaten winner of three Item, Benvenuto Cellini has been beaten twice – both times by a stable companion. To repeat, Item beat two Coolmore`s at York. It will be some clash at Epsom on June 6.

On 10 May there were just five runners for the Group 3 Ballysax Trial at Leopardstown including the long-time ante-post Derby favourite Pierre Bonnard – nothing remarkable about that, or the fact he was just touched off. What was unique was that all the runners were trained by O`Brien family members, by father Aidan, 56, and sons Joseph 32 and Donnacha 27. Some dynasty: both sons won Classics at an earlier stage than their father but they have an awful lot of catching up to do. The earnest pursuit of success of all three means there will be scant room at the top for anyone else for perhaps the next fifty years.

It`s what you call a monopoly. Arch rivals Godolphin have been playing a different game trying to catch up with their classic challenge though their 2024 Two Thousand Guineas winner Notable Speech asserted himself in the Lockinge (Gr1) mile at Newbury. His next objective will be the Queen Anne (Gr1) at Royal Ascot.

The O`Briens are playing at a different pitch. In these last couple of weeks before the Derby hopefully a pattern will emerge in the betting showing just where we stand in a market awaiting which of the O`Brien squad Ryan Moore will be on – but with, in mind, the events and upsets of some of those recent Derby renewals. We`re all looking for a chink in the Coolmore armour – almost certainly in vain.

Hardly less intriguing will be the line-up for the first £1 million Coronation Cup (Gr1) over the Derby distance for older horses on Oaks day. It hardly needs repeating that Aidan O`Brien has the leading candidates here – both recent Chester winners: Jan Brueghel who downed the world travelling champion Calandagan in last year`s Coronation Cup. And last year`s Derby hero Lambourn. The sheer persistence and strength in depth of the Coolmore enterprise is unrelenting. All the ingredients are there for a great race at Epsom. But it is looking more and more like the master craftsman, Aidan O`Brien, will be the one to put the icing on the cake.