In fact, Camelot has some credentials that even the great champion Montjeu could not match. He was a champion two-year-old and won a Group 1 contest at that age, before winning a Classic over a mile when landing the Newmarket 2000 Guineas.

Also, Camelot came closer than any other horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to completing the illustrious Triple Crown, sustaining his first ever defeat when second in the Doncaster St Leger. Considering his remarkable turf record and his exceptional good looks, Camelot’s fee seems very reasonable indeed.

Lightly raced as a two-year-old, Camelot scored by two lengths over a mile at Leopardstown on his debut, then romped home by a similar margin in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster, his only other start that season. In the World Rankings, Camelot was rated the best juvenile in Britain and Ireland and equal top in Europe with the French colt Dabirsim.

Sent to the Group 1 Newmarket 2000 Guineas the next spring without the benefit of a preliminary race, Camelot finished strongly to win by a neck, with such good horses as Trumpet Major, Caspar Netscher, Born To Sea and Power all behind him. After that, Camelot was a very hot odds-on favourite for the Group 1 Epsom Derby and he won easily by five lengths from the previously unbeaten Main Sequence and Astrology.

Going on to the Curragh for the Group 1 Irish Derby, Camelot was an even hotter favourite and scored comfortably by two lengths from Born To Sea in a small field, with the others almost out of sight. He then made a brave effort to complete the elusive Triple Crown, but probably found the extended distance of a mile and three-quarters at Doncaster just too far and he was passed close home by Encke and beaten by just three-quarters of a length. At the end of that season, Camelot was assessed as the best three-year-old colt in Europe on 124.

Remaining in training with Aidan O’Brien as a four-year-old, Camelot comfortably won the Group 3 Mooresbridge Stakes at the Curragh, first time out, then was a close second to Al Kazeem in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh in May. His final appearance came when fourth in a very strong renewal of the Group 1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, where Al Kazeem was again the winner.

Camelot’s dam Tarfah is a high-class daughter of Kingmambo who won the Group 3 Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket and a listed race at Ascot. Her dam Fickle was by Danehill and she won the listed Virginia Stakes in England and was a half-sister to the Lingfield Oaks Trial victress Birdie and to Faru, who won four listed events in France. The fourth dam, One Over Parr, scored in the Lancashire Oaks and the Cheshire Oaks and was an own-sister to Polygamy, who won the Group 1 Epsom Oaks in 1974.

COOLMORE STUD

Coolmore’s impressive list of 27 stallions for the 2014 stud season gives good reason for their belief that the supremacy of their sires can continue for many years to come. Once again, they had the champion sire in Britain and Ireland in 2013, with Galileo in pride of place for the fifth time. It was the 24th consecutive year that the champion sire had stood at Coolmore.

There will be three newcomers starting their stud careers at Coolmore in 2014, the Epsom Derby hero and dual champion Camelot; the outstanding 10-furlong performer Declaration Of War, whose successes included the Juddmonte International and the Queen Anne Stakes and the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes hero Most Improved.

CAMELOT (GB)

Race record: Champion three-year-old colt in Europe in 2012, joint-champion two-year-old colt in Europe in 2011. Winner of six races, £1,926,569 sterling, from two to four years, 8-12 furlongs, in Ireland and England, inc. Epsom Derby Stakes, Epsom, Gr.1, Irish Derby, Curragh, Gr.1, 2000 Guineas Stakes, Newmarket, Gr.1, Racing Post Trophy, Doncaster, Gr.1, and Mooresbridge Stakes, Curragh, Gr.3; second in St Leger Stakes, Doncaster, Gr.1, and Tattersalls Gold Cup, Curragh, Gr.1.

Stud record: Retires to stud in 2014.

Stands at: Coolmore Stud, Fethard, Co Tipperary, Ireland. Enquiries to (353) 52 6131298, or visit www.coolmore.com.

Fee: €25,000 (October 1st)