Rebel Rocker

And so it comes down to this: 14 runners are set to go to post for the Betfred Derby, which, with a newly elevated prize fund of £2 million, is the co-richest race in Britain in 2026. Five British-breds will take on six horses born in Ireland, two in Germany and one in France, with their origins representing the broad spectrum, from a homebred for one-mare owner Jennifer Dorey to four colts representing the most powerful bloodstock operation in the world, Coolmore. Ten of them were sold either as a...

'The Home of the Original' is the Jockey Club's tagline for Epsom, and that original is of course the Derby, which for almost 250 years has inspired the hopes and dreams of owners and breeders across England and beyond.  To a degree, the race has become the preserve of the major owner-breeder operations: nine of the last ten runnings of the Derby have gone to horses owned by Coolmore, Godolphin or the Aga Khan Studs. Gary Robinson of Strawberry Fields Stud struck a blow for smaller breeders when producing the...