The mate, radio kingpin Alan Jones, "fell in love" with the Redoute's Choice colt as soon as he walked out from his box at Wildes Meadow in the Southern Highlands.

"He was so taken with him, 'you'll stay in,' he said to me," Muir said. "I'm known as a sell-and-regret breeder and it was my judgment on the line a bit if he wasn't any good. It was a good family.

"It is hard to say no to Alan and he called a couple of days before the sale and said, 'we are still right for that colt aren't we?'

"Then [trainer] Gai [Waterhouse] had the Queen's bloodstock man John Warren and he had it marked as one of the top lots. I started to think how much is this going to cost me?"

The price was finally $500,000. James Packer and mates of Jones and Muir joined them in the horse, which repaid the investment by winning the Spring Champion Stakes.

"That makes it a bit more fun when they win a group 1 like him," Muir said. "He was always going to need a bit of ground to show his best. I bought the mare from the states and her second dam is in the Makybe Diva family.

"I have never had a Derby runner, I have bred a [New Zealand] Derby winner, Redoute's Dancer, but never had a runner."

Jones is the same. He has part-owned his share of group-1 winners, including Miss Finland in a Golden Slipper, Snitzel in an Oakleigh Plate and most recently It's A Dundeel in last year's Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

"A Derby is a bit different, it is the blue ribbon," Jones said.

"Gai said just wait to he gets to his trip when he was struggling on wet tracks and he didn't get that many dry tracks. There were a few people questioning him but not Gai, she had remarkable faith in him.

"When he got a dry track in the Spring Champion he ran ridiculous time and won at 2000 metres and beat some fair horses. "

Hampton Court has won his past two as the trips have got to a mile and beyond with a genuine tempo. Joao Moreira got the best out of him in the Dulcify Quality at 1600m before he swooped late to take out the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick on October 11.

Kerrin McEvoy will become the sixth jockey to take the reins on Hampton Court this preparation after getting the call-up from Waterhouse for the Derby and replacing Josh Parr, who was brilliant in the Spring Champion.

"The problem to start with was that no one thought the horse was any good," Jones said. "Only Gai had faith in him. She has always liked him and said he was a Derby horse. It just took him a while to show it.

"Josh did a great job in the group 1 the other day but Gai decided to put Kerrin on for the Derby because she wanted an experienced jockey at Flemington. He is riding in great form at the moment as well."

Sydney's big stables dominate the Derby with Hampton Court a $2.90 favourite, while Chris Waller's dour stayer and Geelong Classic runner-up Preferment is at $4.80. Vase winner Moonovermanhattan is $6 and the runner-up from Saturday, Atmosphere, at $9.

Godolphin will decide on Tuesday whether to start to Gouldian in the Derby after he had to be scratched from the Vase because of a cough on Saturday. The other option for the Street Cry colt is an 1800m three-year-olds' race on Oaks day.