Harzand's victory was the first in the race for his jockey and trainer,[1] and the fifth for his owner, who had prior wins with Shergar, Shahrastani, Kahyasi and Sinndar.
The number of potential runners was reduced to 136 at the first scratching date in March 2016 with Foundation (trained by John Gosden) and Midterm, the son of Midday, (Michael Stoute) heading the betting market at odds of 12 to 1.
Amongst those remaining in the race were trial winners US Army Ranger (Chester Vase), Harzand (Ballysax Stakes) and Moonlight Magic (Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial) along with the Classic winner The Gurkha (Poule d'Essai des Poulains) and Awtaad, who won the Irish 2,000 Guineas just after the confirmations were announced.
Wings of Desire, Cloth of Stars, Humphrey Bogart and Red Verdon were supplemented at a cost of £75,000 and the additional entries made the prize money £1.45m and meant that the 2016 Derby would be the most valuable horse race ever staged in Great Britain.
[12] The first significant trial race for the 2016 Derby took place at Leopardstown on 10 April when a field of seven colts contested the Ballysax Stakes.
Harzand beat Idaho by a length and a quarter and was subsequently quoted at odds of between 16/1 and 25/1 for the Derby and his trainer stated he would be "keeping an open mind" about targets for the colt.
[15] The 2016 race failed to improve this reputation as it was won by a filly, So Mi Dar, whose trainer John Gosden intended to run her in the Epsom Oaks.
Midterm, ridden by Ryan Moore, won by one and a half lengths from Algometer and his odds for the Derby were subsequently reduced to 6/1 by some bookmakers.
[23][24] The third race with an impact on the Derby betting was the 1000 Guineas, restricted to fillies, which was won by Minding, owned by Coolmore and trained in Ireland by Aidan O'Brien.
O'Brien was non-committal when asked about future plans for Minding, stating that the Irish 1,000 Guineas and Epsom Oaks were also possible targets, and saying that ""Obviously [the owners] will talk about that but all those things are open to her.
"[25] The first of two trials at Chester's May meeting was run on 5 May and was notable for the appearance of the Aidan O'Brien-trained US Army Ranger, favourite for the Derby itself, if Minding's odds were overlooked.
[26][27] The second trial of the meeting, the Dee Stakes, took place on 6 May and had little bearing on the Derby betting as the winner, Viren's Army, does not have an entry in the classic.
The race resulted in a win for Wings Of Desire, trained by John Gosden and ridden by Frankie Dettori, with Midterm unplaced.
[35][36] Midterm was subsequently found to be suffering a hamstring injury after the race, and a further scan showed a stress fracture of the pelvis.
The Poule d'Essai des Poulains is France's equivalent of the 2000 Guineas and was run at Deauville as the regular venue at Longchamp is closed for redevelopment during 2016.
Algometer, ridden by Jim Crowley won by half a length from the favourite, Prize Money, and was available at odds of between 25 to 1 and 33 to 1 for the Derby.
[44] Two days before the race the Ballydoyle stable withdrew Beacon Rock and Bravery to leave a final field of sixteen.
US Army Ranger started the 7/2 favourite ahead of Wings of Desire on 6/1 and Harzand at 13/2 whilst Cloth of Stars and Ulysses shared fourth place in the betting on 8/1.
[45] Harzand gained the advantage approaching the final furlong and repelled a sustained challenge from US Army Ranger to win by one and a half lengths.
Winning time: 2 min 40.09sec * The distances between the horses are shown in lengths or shorter; nse = nose; hd = head.† Trainers are based in Great Britain unless indicated.