Bob Baffert’s Greenwich Village a notable name among Derby entries

Bob Baffert was the surprise name among the entries for the 2026 Betfred Derby, with the American Hall of Fame handler giving three-time winner Greenwich Village the option of testing his mettle at Epsom Downs in June.

The son of Quality Road was in the winner’s enclosure as recently as Sunday when winning the Pasedena Stakes at Santa Anita and would be the first US-trained runner in the Premier Classic since Michael Dickinson saddled Wolf Prince to finish eighth in 1993.

Of an Epsom tilt, Tom Ryan, of Greenwich Village’s joint-owners SF Racing said: “We are incredibly grateful to The Jockey Club for extending an invitation to the Betfred Derby for Greenwich Village. It was a wonderful and unexpected surprise for all of us, and something we don’t take lightly. It’s a very intriguing opportunity, and we’ll be giving it serious thought as we map out his path from the winter into the spring.

“We’ve loved seeing how he’s progressed, stretching out from six and a half furlongs to a mile on the turf, and he keeps finding and finishing through adversity, which is what you want to see from a developing three-year-old.

“He’s a big, powerful colt — and he’s bred to keep moving forward as distances increase. The Derby distance is the great unknown.

“We will be guided by Bob Baffert when it comes to making a decision. When we originally purchased him, we had the Kentucky Derby in mind. It would be quite a pivot if he ended up in Epsom Downs.”

There could be further international representation with Japanese-trained colts Akkan (Takeshi Okumura) and Choreo Sequence (Yuta Sato) amongst the 88 entries, while all of the major names in the early ante-post betting feature with Aidan O’Brien dominating the top of the market.

After landing a record-extending 11th Derby with Lambourn last year, the master of Ballydoyle looks to hold leading claims of a fourth-straight success in the mile-and-a-half Classic, with his Pierre Bonnard currently the 6-1 favourite with the race sponsors.