Life on the road is always expected to offer the liberty to do what you want. So when Gunther Schmidt discovered the appealing colt he reproduced, Balzac, was making a first look of the year at Kempton recently, he understood he had to be there.

And it appears the German horse transporter can begin to get delighted about the possibilities of Balzac fulfilling his engagement in the Betfred Derby, with trainer-owner Jane Chapple-Hyam now considering a run around Epsom in heaven Riband Trial and not intending to be postponed the Classic even if he went off at 100-1 as "everyone has a dream".

"I was taking some German mares over and I 'd seen he was running so I dropped them in Newmarket, had my rest and took my time to come across," said Schmidt. "It's always a big difference if it's live or simply on the television.

"We bred him, we enjoy him and we still have the mum, who's just foaled a filly by Erevann."

Schmidt now invests a great deal of his time lorry driving as he established his business, Taxi4Horses, about 20 years earlier and has a fleet of automobiles under his control blending horses all over Europe.

Previously, he ran a stud in Germany with his wife Elke and it stays in his blood, with the couple boarding a few mares in Germany and France.

Balzac's dam, Brit Wit, has currently provided them a memorable high as she is responsible for Claymore, likewise trained by Chapple-Hyam and a winner of the 2022 Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot after chasing after home Native Trail in the Craven Stakes.

The New Bay gelding has stayed in training aged 7, hacking up when welcomed to a Hungarian local Group 1 at Kincsem Park last September and switching his attention to the Dubai Carnival, where he was second in a handicap in the middle of January.

Brit Wit is an unraced High Chaparral child of Brisk Breeze, who showed a great entertainer for Schmidt's compatriot Gerhard Schoeningh and his Ennismore Racing banner. The male who has actually been trying to bring back Hoppegarten racecourse back to its former splendor campaigned Brisk Breeze with Sir Henry Cecil, winning the Listed Harvest Stakes at Ascot and ending up a close 3rd in the Park Hill.

Balzac, who is from the first crop of Gestut Etzean's Japan, was selected up by Chapple-Hyam herself at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale and raced once as a two-year-old, ending up a close third in a hot-looking maiden at Newmarket in the fall.

He went off at even-money under Hollie Doyle in a mile novice on the Polytrack, making all the running to hold back previous winners Winding Stream and Magic Trip.

"We sold him as a foal for 30,000 gns; Jane was on him since he was born because we're good buddies," said Schmidt. "She entered the ring, took a bet, and she got him, so we were happy.

"We likewise own a two-year-old sister [Meribah] from the very first crop of Torquator Tasso. She remains in pre-training in Germany and we're eager to get her maybe to Jane, of course, however she's French reproduced so we'll see."

Japan, the regally-bred Galileo stallion and winner of the Juddmonte International and Grand Prix de Paris with Aidan O'Brien, was considered as a crucial signing for the Germany breeding market when he relocated to Etzean upon retirement.

He knocked out six two-year-old winners from his very first crop, but there is most likely to be much better to come now his children are three. They include the Danish-bred Taifuu, who won a conditions race in Dubai this winter season.

Schmidt is a Japan fan, too, adding: "He had a winner in Germany last week, Weekend Warrior, over 2,100 m and perhaps the finest of them, Peace Of Japan, ran over 1,500 m and was ridden with simply hands and heels but finished an excellent second.

"He's gone into in the French Derby, Balzac remains in gotten in the English Derby, so Japan is certainly on his method. And we require a horse like him in Germany; we require a proven stallion who kicks on German breeding."

Should Balzac get to Epsom we can be sure Schmidt will be there too, perhaps pointing a Taxi4Horses cab in the direction of the Downs while in his stovepipe hat and tails.

"I also bred Stingray, who ran for us in the German Derby and finished fifth; he then ran in Newmarket last November [6th, James Seymour Stakes] with Hollie Doyle on and we have actually still got him," he said.

"We have an intriguing three-year-old ourselves called Strike [by Fearless King], a half sibling to Stingray. So we're always dreaming. My household has had horses for 70 years, I was born with them.