Royal Patronage Adds To Wootton Bassett’s Group 1 Tally
Royal Patronage (6h Wootton Bassett – Shaloushka, by Dalakhani) became the latest top-flight winner by Wootton Bassett when capturing the Group 1 $750,000 Canterbury Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.
A dual Group winner in the UK, the bay was bought by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott as a four-year-old and made a perfect start Down Under when landing the Group 2 Ikon Tramway Stakes in September. Later placed in the Group 1 TAB Epsom, he was returning from a break at the weekend and dropped down to six and a half furlongs – the shortest he had raced over since his juvenile career.
Drawn wide, he broke smartly under Timothy Clark to race prominently, and dug deep close home to beat long-time leader Here To Shock, a Group 1 winner last time out, close home. The winning margin was half a length, with another three parts of a length back to the favourite, dual Group 1 winner Magic Time, in third.
Speaking after the race, the winning rider commented: “He just had to elevate to a new level today, as it was obviously a very strong race. Once he got into his spot, the speed was lovely, he was comfortable the whole way, he did fill me with confidence throughout the race and I knew when I got into a dogfight late he was going to be there for me.”
“He's an incredible horse,” Bott added. “To do what he did first start in Australia and first preparation, I thought he was one of the most forward Europeans we've had over.
“We always had a big circle around the [$4million] Doncaster [Mile on April 4th] for him. We felt kicking off here and through the George Ryder [Stakes] would be a nice style of preparation.
“We were open minded about how far to stretch him last time, but I feel the mile is his real sweet spot.”
Bred by Emma Capon, Royal Patronage remains the best performer out of the Aga Khan-bred mare Shaloushka.