Christmas Day carries the most famous name in European racing into the 2026 Melbourne Cup nominations: Aidan O'Brien's colt won the 2026 Epsom Derby over 2400m at Royal Ascot's summer meeting and ran second in the Irish Derby. Derby winners are the aristocracy of Cup betting, and the Ballydoyle operation has made the Melbourne Cup an obsession.
Aidan O'Brien has won seemingly everything in world racing — but the Melbourne Cup remains the one that got away, despite flooding the race with talent for a decade. Christmas Day, one of five O'Brien nominations in 2026, is the type of lightly-raced, high-class stayer the Cup's modern history rewards: think Rekindling, Cross Counter and Twilight Payment. If he comes, he instantly becomes one of the most credentialed horses in the race.