Serpentine, 25-1 winner of bizarre Derby behind closed doors in 2020, has been retired in Australia

Four and a half years after his extraordinary victory in the Derby, Serpentine has been retired by connections in Australia.

The son of Galileo will be remembered for winning the strangest Derby ever in 2020 when he ran his rivals ragged from the front to score at 25-1, with the Epsom Classic run behind closed doors for the first time in its history.

To add to the bizarre scenes, the Aidan O'Brien-trained winner was followed home by 50-1 runner-up Khalifa Sat and Amhran Na Bhfiann, who was third at 66-1.

Serpentine was rushed into an early lead by jockey Emmet McNamara and went well clear of his 15 rivals, having given the field the slip rounding Tattenham Corner.

His lead was as big as 12 lengths three furlongs out and he galloped on relentlessly to win by five and a half lengths to provide O'Brien with an unprecedented eighth Derby success.

Serpentine: 2020 Derby winner has been retiredCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

After the race, McNamara said: "I think I got a little bit of a freebie really. I had a huge amount of confidence in Serpentine having spoken to Aidan during the week, he said he thought the horse would stay a mile and six furlongs well. 

"He told me to give him a breather around the six furlong mark and then to keep building to that winning post because the horse would keep going, thank God he was right."

The race took place during the pandemic and was moved back a month to early July.

Serpentine was unsuccessful in five further attempts at Group 1 level for O'Brien and Coolmore before being gelded and moving to Australia to be trained initially by Robert Hickmott and then by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.

The gelding raced in the colours of leading owner Lloyd Williams and contested the Melbourne Cup on two occasions, and performed creditably in other Cup races.

A winner of five of his 34 career starts, he retired as an eight-year-old having run in the Perth Cup on New Year's Day.

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