The Derby Tips 2026: Runners, Odds and Our 14/1 NAP For Epsom

The Derby takes centre stage at Epsom on Saturday afternoon and while the market is understandably built around the obvious names from the biggest yards, there is one colt at a much bigger price who is making plenty of each-way appeal to Billy Grimshaw. Find out who our editor is siding with to cause a shock in Britain's most famous race...

The Derby is rarely just about finding the best horse in a straight line. Epsom asks a very different question to most tracks. The camber, the downhill run, the need to hold a position, the sharp change of rhythm into the straight and the final climb all combine to expose horses who are not bred and built for this very day. That is why it can pay to look beyond reputation and ask which runners have the right blend of class, attitude and scope for the step up in trip.

On that basis, ANCIENT EGYPT makes far more each-way appeal than his price suggests. Charlie Johnston’s colt is not coming here as a speculative maiden or a horse being thrown in purely because connections fancy a day out. He has won three of his four starts, including a Listed race at Newmarket last time, and there was plenty to like about the way he went through that contest. He was strong, professional and notably game when crossing the line, which is a big positive given he is stepping up in trip here..

The market appears to have treated stamina and unfashionable connections as a major concern, but I don't think either of those factors are in play at all. This lad shaped like a colt who would not be stopping over further, and his pedigree gives him every chance of seeing out 1m4f. By Frankel out of an Oasis Dream mare, he has speed on the page, but also enough class and a big enough engine to believe this longer distance could draw more out of him rather than blunt him. If it does, he is in the mix and no double figure shot.

He also has the type of attitude that can take a horse a long way in this race. Some Derby runners arrive with flashier trial form, but not all of them are guaranteed to enjoy the pressure cooker of Epsom. Ancient Egypt has already shown he can dig in and keep responding, which is exactly the sort of quality you want when they swing into the straight and the race begins to unravel. He may not have the sexy profile of some of the more fashionable runners, but he looks straightforward, tough and still on the upgrade.

The draw in stall 10 is ideal as that is the winning-most gate in Derby history and it should give David Egan options, particularly if he can get Ancient Egypt into a rhythm without being forced too wide early. The Johnston team are rarely afraid to have one handy, and this colt looks the sort who could travel into the race in a positive position rather than needing everything to fall perfectly from the back. In a Derby with several runners who still have questions to answer under these exact conditions, that could be important.

There are risks, of course. This is a deeper race than the Newmarket Stakes, he has yet to race on anything slower than fast ground, and Epsom can find out even very good horses. But those doubts are already more than built into the price. I may be overcomplicating things considering the dominance Ballydoyle have exerted over the Classics so far this season in not backing their hot favourite Benvenuto Cellini, particularly as his style reminds me so much of last year's Derby winner Lambourn in that he ground and galloped his way to a Chester success as his final prep run. For all he has claims, however, this is a deep looking Derby and he just cannot be a 2/1 shot, for all he could go and win.

It'd be some story if James J Braddock were to win The Derby for Joseph O'Brien, fourteen years on from his trainer riding the brilliant Camelot to Epsom glory. He has done nothing wrong and looks tough as teak, so if the rain really starts to fall I expect him to be the horse most positively impacted. There are chances aplenty, with Item of course the pick of the runners in the Dante given his commanding success there, but I am very sweet on Ancient Egypt's chances and think that barring a superstar in here, he should be right there swinging when the prizes are dished out.