Giovanni Canaletto (right) is 8-1, having been 16-1 on Monday

 PICTURE: Caroline Norris (rac

AIDAN O’BRIEN has confirmed that Ryan Moore will ride Derby gamble Giovanni Canaletto in Saturday’s Investec-sponsored Epsom Classic.

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Giovanni Canaletto’s odds had plummeted to no bigger than 8-1 (from 16) in just 24 hours before the jockey booking was made official.

Moore also looks set to ride either Investec Oaks favourite Legatissimo or second favourite Crystal Zvezda after O’Brien added Together Forever would be partnered by his son Joseph, with Seamie Heffernan on Diamondsandrubies and Colm O’Donoghue riding Qualify.

O’Brien has booked Heffernan to ride Hans Holbein in the Derby, while Joseph will partner Kilimanjaro.

O’Brien on Giovanni Canaletto
“Giovanni Canaletto seems in good form,” O’Brien told the Racing Post. “He has done only a couple of half-speeds since running second in the Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh nine days ago but we’re happy with him and he will take his chance.

“We wanted to run him in the Chester Vase but that wasn’t possible due to a slight hold-up. It isn’t ideal running him back so soon, but he finished well in the Gallinule and Ryan liked him.”

Ryan Moore will not ride for Aidan O’Brien in the Investec Oaks

 PICTURE: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

Major gamble
Since the five-day confirmations were made on Monday, Giovanni Canaletto’s price has collapsed. Freely available at 16-1 at the beginning of the week, Giovanni Canaletto is now as short as 6-1 and no bigger than 8-1.

Coral’s David Stevens said: “Although the formbook says Giovanni Canaletto has plenty to find if he is to become a Derby winner, punters have not been put off backing him, forcing his odds down at all rates from 16-1 to his current price in the last 24 hours.”

The booking of Moore could well see his price contract further as O’Brien bids to win the Derby for the fourth successive year – and his sixth in total.

Moore’s Derby pedigree
Ryan Moore is viewed by many as the best jockey on the planet and is bidding for his third win in the Epsom Classic this decade. Moore won the race on Workforce in 2010 and 2013 on Ruler Of The World.

Moore also won the fillies equivalent, the Oaks, in 2010 on Snow Fairy, but quipped at the time: “It’s not the Derby.”

Ruler of the World (second right), a full brother to Giovanni Canaletto, won the Derby in 2013

 PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Moore’s mount Giovanni Canaletto also has a Derby pedigree to envy. He is a full brother to Ruler Of The World, who won the race by a length and a half. Their dam Love Me True also produced five-time Group 1 winner Duke Of Marmalade, who was champion older horse in Europe in 2008.

The horse
Giovanni Canaletto’s form claims are less convincing, however, and he was a beaten even-money favourite in his only start this year, when finishing a neck behind Curvy in the Group 3 Gallinule Stakes over the Curragh over 1m2f.

He was finishing fast that day and the additional two furlongs, and added race fitness, should be in his favour.

The horse is named after Venetian landscape painter Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto.