'He's going to improve a lot' - Aidan O'Brien still full of hope for The Lion In Winter despite losing spot as Derby favourite

Aidan O'Brien still retains faith in The Lion In Winter despite his Dante Stakes defeat, insisting the former ante-post favourite for the Derby will improve "a lot" for his comeback.

The son of Sea The Stars had not been seen since winning the Acomb Stakes on the Knavesmire in August, but was sent off the 8-11 favourite to make a winning return. However, he pulled hard under Ryan Moore early on and despite looming up in the straight he was beaten four lengths into sixth.

The Lion In Winter was replaced at the head of the Derby betting by stablemate Delacroix and eased by Paddy Power to 5-1 (from 11-4) for the Epsom Classic, but O'Brien was far from downbeat after his star's first defeat.

O'Brien said: "Ryan was very happy. He said he had to come out earlier than he wanted as they were coming around him and he probably got a little bit tired because it was his first run, but he was very positive about him.

The Lion In Winter (second left): beaten into sixth in the DanteCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

"He's not just going to improve, he's going to make a lot of improvement. If he jumped out and did everything right he might have got away with it, but he didn't do anything right. He jumped out and he was keen and wanted to go faster and obviously it was only a trial, so it wasn't championship pace."

O'Brien has won the Derby in the last two years with Auguste Rodin and City Of Troy after comprehensive defeats on their comebacks, but he will let the dust settle before committing The Lion In Winter to Epsom.

He added: "He has a lot of class and speed, and we just have to decide now if we go to Epsom or does he go for the French Derby, or what does he do? The long and the short of it is how he is in a week."

The Dante was a rare recent miss in trials this spring for O'Brien, the trainer having landed the Chester Vase, Dee Stakes and Lingfield Derby Trial last week with Lambourn, Mount Kilimanjaro and Puppet Master. He also landed the Leopardstown trial on Sunday with Delacroix.

Despite the loss, O'Brien believes it was crucial for The Lion In Winter to get a run under his belt to stand a chance of making it to Epsom.

"He did well to make it here," he said. "He wouldn't have made it to any trial other than here because we wouldn't have had the time, so he was just ready to come racing and maybe that's why he was a bit fresh. Ryan said he was a bit fresh in the stalls and he wanted to go faster when he came out.

"When we start working him again he could turn into a totally different horse, but obviously we couldn't go to Epsom without a run, so he had to come here. We have 23 days until the Derby, which is a help."

Betfred Derby (June 7, Epsom) Betfred: 5-2 Delacroix, 7-2 Ruling Court, 5 Pride Of Arras, The Lion In Winter, 8 Twain, 12 Damysus, 18 Lambourn, 20 Mount Kilimanjaro, 25 bar.

Read these next:

Pride of Arras has Ralph Beckett dreaming of Derby success with ready Dante win 

'He looked like a teenager at his first disco' - where does the Derby value lie after the Dante? Our experts have their say   

Looking for free bets? Racing Post have got the best offers, all in one place. Visit racingpost.com/freebets to find out more.