Royal Patronage will be running at the Cazoo Derby next week, Highclere Thoroughbred Racing have confirmed. This decision has been made despite the horse losing out to Derby favourite Desert Crown in the Dante meeting at York. However, the highly-promising Lysander will not run in the race.
Although insiders believe there is plenty more to come from Desert Crown after the win on only the horse’s second start of its career, Mark and Charlie Johnston believe Royal Patronage has enough to challenge and have given the green light for the three-year-old to race.
The managing director at Highclere Thoroughbred Racing, Harry Herbert, has been very vocal about the prospects of Royal Patronage’s stablemate Lysander and had hoped to run both horses at Epsom. However, the William Haggas-trained Lysander was beaten three-quarters of a length into third in the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood, forcing a re-think, and a Royal Ascot appearance is now favoured for the horse.
Herbert said: “We had high hopes for Lysander, and we still do. It was just very frustrating when the rain arrived at Goodwood.
“I think this horse has such a good action and he was slightly all at sea off that slow pace when they really quickened it up, but he still ran a hell of a race.
“We’re not going to the Derby with him now and will head to either the Hampton Court or the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“He had a hard race the other day in sticky ground and William just feels going to Epsom would be the wrong move for the horse right now.
“He’s very talented and we never like turning down the Derby, but we’ll take a longer term view.”
Although the distance between Desert Crown and Royal Patronage was just three lengths, the two horses are poles apart in the betting stakes. Desert Crown is currently the 9/4 favourite, while Royal Patronage is a 25/1 shot.
Although Herbert doesn’t necessarily believe that Royal Patronage can beat the favourite, he does feel the bookies undervalue the horse.
Speaking about Royal Patronage at Epsom, Herbert said: “He’ll definitely run there, all being well. I spoke to Charlie Johnston on Tuesday morning and he tells me he’s in very good form.
“He won impressively at Epsom last year, so he’s handled the track pretty well and we’re hopeful that he’ll stay the mile and a half. If he does, he could give everyone a lovely shout.
“We feel the rhythm of the Dante possibly didn’t suit him as they went slow and then really sprinted, but take nothing away from the winner, who won well and deserves to be Derby favourite.
The Cazoo Derby takes place on Saturday, 4 June 2022. It is often referred to as the greatest Flat race on earth and is run over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards.
Recent winners are Adayar (2021), Serpentine (2020), Anthony Van Dyck (2019), Masar (2018), Wings Of Eagles (2017). Frankie Dettori and Ryan Moore are the two most successful jockeys with two wins each, and the leading trainer is Aidan O’Brien, with eight wins.
