Epsom Derby 2024: Aidan O'Brien seeking perfect 10 but weight of expectation on City of Troy

Aidan O’Brien first burst on to the scene in the Epsom Derby with Galileo’s win in 2001.

At the time, the Irish trainer was 31, and Galileo would go on to sire a record five future Derby winners, including Ruler of the World and Australia.

On Saturday, O’Brien is bidding to train a 10th winner in a race which, on paper at least, is not quite the Coolmore procession of certain years past.

The 54-year-old does boast the favourite, with City of Troy, but there is a sense that this year’s winner could come from almost anywhere in the field.

“There is a weight of expectation on him,” said O’Brien of what looks like his best contender in the race. “City of Troy has an unbelievable mind.

“The Guineas was a let-down because we were all expecting. It just went against us and we have to accept that, move on and try to get back to where we hoped we would be.

“What you can’t measure is mind and determination, and that is the most important thing in horse or human. Do they really want it?”

As is his wont, O’Brien will also saddle the second favourite in Los Angeles, son of former Derby winner Camelot, and the only unbeaten colt going into Saturday’s showpiece.

Wins at Tipperary, Saint-Cloud and Leopardstown most recently suggest he has the wherewithal to be a potential O’Brien winner, even if he looked a little sluggish on his last outing.

There is no shortage of suitors aiming to break up the Coolmore hegemony, however, and next best placed is Ambiente Friendly.

Unlike O’Brien, for the horse’s trainer, James Fanshawe, it is only a second entry into the big race of his long career.

Ambiente Friendly is aptly owned by the same person, Billy Gredley, as his only ­previous runner, in 1991. Gredley bought the horse as a 90th birthday gift for himself last year.

Of his chances, Fanshawe said: “My job at first was not to find out how good he was, but give him a chance at being good.

“Bill was hopeful that we could get him to stay and, thankfully, over the winter his whole demeanour changed. He grew up, simple as that.

“He became much more relaxed about everything, and that was reflected in his performances. But the Derby is a tough prospect for any horse and it can come too early for some.”