The horse was a three-quarter-brother to the 1970 English Triple Crown champion Nijinsky (who was by Northern Dancer out of Flaming Page, the dam of Fleur).

[3] The Minstrel was purchased for $200,000 ($1.2 million inflation adjusted) at the 1975 Keeneland Sales yearling auction by the British Bloodstock Agency (based in Ireland), acting on behalf of a group headed by Robert Sangster (1936–2004).

Despite two classic defeats, Piggott retained his belief in the colt and told O'Brien and Sangster that "If you run The Minstrel in the Derby, I'll ride him.

Ridden as usual by Piggott, he started at odds of 5/1 in a field of twenty-two runners, with the French-trained Blushing Groom being made 9/4 favourite.

Vincent O'Brien, as usual, left nothing to chance, stuffing cotton wool in the horse's ears until he got to the start – the first recorded example of this calming influence being used.

[8] At the end of the month The Minstrel followed up with a win in the Irish Derby at the Curragh, beating Lucky Sovereign by one and a half lengths and surviving an objection by the rider of the runner-up.

The race attracted a strong international field including Bruni, Exceller, Crystal Palace (Prix du Jockey Club) and Crow (St Leger).

In the 1977 poll organised by the Racegoers' Club, The Minstrel took twenty-six of the thirty-seven votes to win the title of British Horse of the Year.

In the same year he was given a rating of a 135 by the independent Timeform organisation, making him the second highest-rated horse in Europe, two pounds behind his stable companion Alleged.