Andrew Scutts: Frankly, darling, this could be the year to take on the colts

News that the Investec Derby prize fund would be £500,000 might just have set some minds whirring.

Jockey Club Racecourses and Investec would have been unlikely to receive any flak had they staged the world's most famous Flat race for £250,000, which is the level all eight Royal Ascot Group 1s were pitched at, along with the Investec Oaks.

Instead, they chose to beef up what is traditionally Britain's most valuable prize, creating in the process an in-your-face disparity with the Oaks that might not have existed.