NAP of the Day: Benvenuto can rise to the occasion at the Curragh

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16:35 Curragh Odds

We had Royal Ascot last week and there's Classic action on offer in Ireland this week, as well as some very intriguing summer jumping in Britain.

Obviously, the race of the day on Sunday is the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby and there's a substantial prize fund of €1.25m on offer for Ireland's third Classic of the season. Many will fancy Aidan O'Brien to come out on top, but which of his colts will land the spoils?

My fancy is an O'Brien-trained Epsom flop to bounce back to his very best and come out on top in the big one. The horse in question deserves another chance and the return to better ground and a more conventional track will do his chances no harm.

16:35 Curragh - Benvenuto Cellini @ 6/4

A field of 11 has been declared for the Irish Derby and there are some smart performers among the field. Epsom hero Christmas Day will try to follow in the footsteps of stablemate Lambourn, by completing the English and Irish Derby double.

His own stablemate could spoil the party here and Ryan Moore has kept the faith with BENVENUTO CELLINI and that could prove to be the right decision. Christmas Day deserves to be respected, but Benvenuto Cellini appears to have a bit more class.

O'Brien's colt immediately showed potential as a two-year-old and connections have been convinced since last year that Group 1s over 1m4f would be his calling. He finished second to a stablemate on debut here, over an inadequate 7f, which was a fair effort.

Going up to a mile next time, he improved significantly and ran out a very comfortable winner on that occasion. The Group 2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes was next on the agenda and he was far too good for them, kicking five lengths clear at the line.

Horse Racing Odds

Things didn't go to plan in the Group 1 Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on his final start of last season, but there's no shame in losing out to stablemate and subsequent French Derby runner-up Hawk Mountain on that occasion, especially on unsuitably heavy ground.

He booked his place in the Derby by pulverising the opposition in the Chester Vase, but everything that could go wrong did go wrong for him at Epsom. Soft ground wasn't ideal and an incident in the stalls left him with no chance, so Moore nursed him home.

A much-improved performance is anticipated back on better ground and he deserves another chance. Christmas Day is obviously a significant danger and James J Braddock will be in the mix if he can settle better early on and behave himself in the preliminaries.

Don't rule out British raider Raaheb, who landed a Group 3 at Sandown impressively on seasonal debut and could be anything.

That being said, Moore has stuck with Benvenuto Cellini for a reason and he's fancied to come out on top.