Epsom is a unique racecourse that demands specialist skills of horse and jockey, so surely breeding comes into the equation.

In recent years, arguably the single most significant influence on the G1 Derby has been the mare Urban Sea, a G1 Arc winner no less (1993), who produced two winners of the famous Epsom Classic, Galileo (2001) and Sea The Stars (2008).

Galileo went on to sire three Derby winners, New Approach (2008), Ruler Of The World (2013) and Australia (2014), while Sea The Stars produced Harzand (2016) from his third crop.

But Urban Sea’s impact on the Derby my not be over yet. In Masar, the great mare has a descendant perfectly equipped to write his own name on the Epsom Roll Of Honour.

Urban Sea is Masar’s great grandmother, while the colt’s grandmother, Melikah (a sibling of Galileo and Sea The Stars) was third in a G1 Oaks at Epsom. Melikah’s father, Lammtarra (son of the 1970 Derby winner Nijinsky) was trained by Godolphin’s Saeed bin Suroor to win the 1995 Derby.

Higher up in the pedigree, New Approach (Galileo) is the colt’s sire, while his dam, the G2 UAE Derby winner Khawlah, is by Cape Cross, sire of Sea The Stars and Ouija Board, both winners of Classics at Epsom.

Masar is inbred 3 x 4 to Urban Sea. Godolphin’s Masar is certainly a colt with Epsom written all over his impressive pedigree.