Despite his career starting with significant promise - and being sired by the famous Teofilo - the poor performance in his first outing this year meant he entered the Epsom Derby at odds of 50/1. It was therefore unsurprising when the horse finished 10th out of 11 runners, 21 lengths behind the winner Adayar.

Gear Up started his career in the Skybet First Race Special Every Saturday Novice Median Auction Stakes at York on July 25, 2020, where he picked up his maiden victory.

He followed that up with another victory at the same course in the Group Three Tattersalls Acomb Stakes on August 19. He tracked the leader throughout, pressed inside the final furlong and took the win by half a length over Spycatcher.

He took a step up in distance for his third race from seven furlongs to one mile, but he fell to his first defeat. Racing in the Group Two Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes at Newmarket on September 26, he initially kept pace with the leader, tracking close with the rest of the pack. However, he was not able to keep up that pace and fell down the order to finish in fourth.

His final race of 2020 was the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud at Saint-Cloud in France on October 24. His first race outside of the UK, as well as being over an enhanced distance of one mile and two furlongs, he secured his third and final victory of the year in style, winning comfortably after gaining the lead early.

On May 13, 2021, Gear Up competed in his first race as a three-year-old. Back at his favoured track of York - where he won his first two races - Gear Up competed in the Group Two Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Dante Stakes.

He was up against stiff opposition, many of whom were his main rivals in the Epsom Derby. Starting at a price of 6/1, he was one of the favourites heading into the race. However, things didn't go his way and he ended up finishing in fifth place, five-and-a-half lengths behind winner Hurricane Lane.

Despite this, the feeling was that Gear Up was undervalued when it came to the Derby. The longer trip at Epsom should have suited the horse, but with a preference for softer ground, it came as little surprise when he finished 10th.

Gear Up is trained by Mark Johnston, a British trainer who started training in 1987. Over the last five seasons, he has had nearly 1,000 winners from just over 6,000 races at a win percentage of 16 per cent.

His biggest achievements include three Ascot Gold Cup victories (Double Trigger in 1995 and Royal Rebel in both 2001 and 2002) and wins at the 1000 (Attraction in 2004) and 2000 Guineas (Mister Baileys in 1994). He also won the Irish 1000 Guineas with Attraction in the same year, as well as tasting success in France, Germany, Italy and the UAE.

Gear Up has had four different jockeys in his five races, all with very impressive records themselves.

In his first two races, he was ridden by Silvestre de Sousa to victory. This was the longest partnership to date, as for the next race, Franny Norton took the reins. James Doyle stood in for the next race, but for his most recent running, Ben Curtis was in the saddle.

Curtis will be the jockey for Gear Up once again for the Derby. He is an experienced jockey, with over 550 GB wins in nearly 3,750 runs, a 15 per cent win ratio, over the last five years. He is in strong current form though, with a win ratio of 18 per cent over the last 14 days.

Gear Up is owned by Teme Valley, who own a number of other horses including two-time race winner Glen Again.

Gear Up was sired by Teofilo, an Irish Thoroughbred who had a highly successful albeit short career.

Teofilo was unbeaten in his five races. Two of these were Group One affairs - the Laing O'Rourke National Stakes at the Curragh and the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. He was subsequently named the European Champion Two-Year-Old of 2006. Sadly, his career was cut short due to a knee injury suffered in April 2007. At the time he was the bookies' favourite for both the 2000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby.

Gear Up's dam is the American horse Gearanai. She raced six times but never placed, with her best result being fourth at Naas. However, her progeny includes a number of race winners including Guaranteed, Assurance, Meagher's Flag and New Direction.