How Sammarco finally fulfilled a Derby dream for overjoyed breeder

Listening to Helmut von Finck speak about his German Derby hero Sammarco, an inescapable sense of a destiny being fulfilled begins to dawn, as brightly as the summer sun which bathes Baden Baden in glorious, golden light.

That Von Finck, who has spent the best part of four decades on a quest to breed a Derby winner, did so this summer with a son of Camelot out of a mare by Von Finck's own, beloved stallion, Soldier Hollow, has the air of a mythic fable brought to life.

King Arthur was fated never to locate the chalice he sought from his realm of Camelot, while the destiny imagined for Camelot the horse was denied him at the last, but on the first weekend of July, the stars aligned at Hamburg for Von Finck with Sammarco's thrilling victory.