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The Adam Marcus trained four-year-old gelding Royal Badge is rated a 150/1 shot with Betting World for the Grade 1 Vodacom Durban July (2200m) at Greyville on July 1st, but a perusal over the progeny record of his under rated sire Go Deputy will quickly show he is not just a hopeful entry.
He will stake a claim for a berth in the big race when he runs in the Grade 3 Cup Trial (1800m) on Saturday at Greyville.
Marcus said, “His biggest asset is he is an extremely good mover.”
He showed that in his Champions Season pipe opener on the Greyville poly over 1600m. He turned it on in the straight and his big stride carried him to a fast finishing fourth, 2.4 lengths behind Nebula, whom he faces on Saturday on 3kg better terms.
Marcus said, “It was a wonderful prep after a little break and he has improved from that run and is exceptionally well. I was very pleased with the acceleration he showed, so don’t think the 1800m will be too short for him. We have always thought of him as a horse who was on the up and at this time of the Champions Season it just takes one race to go your way and you suddenly have a boom horse.”
Unfortunately, Royal Badge’s regular rider Richard Fourie will be aboard the fancied July horse Elusive Silva on Saturday.
However, Marcus is pleased with the replacement Grant van Niekerk, whom he said should know Royal Badge as he has ridden him in track work in Cape Town before.
Adam’s famous father Basil, who was a seven-times Hong Kong Champion jockey, had two July runners as a trainer in Jay Peg and Desert Links.
Adam has not yet had a runner in the big race, but has earmarked a program for Royal Badge, which is based on the one Desert Links followed in 2008.
Desert Links won the Cup Trial, finished a 1,6 length fifth in the July and then won the Gold Cup.
Adam said, “It is very exciting to have a horse in contention for a place in the July and hopefully he gets in, that would be awesome.”
Looking at the stakes earners of Go Deputy’s first crop: Adobe Pink won two races in a busy season as a three-year-old and ended the season merit rated 76, but she won four on the trot as a four-year-old and ended the season merit rated 96; Pessoa was merit rated 78 entering the July of his three-year-old year and then won four on the trot, including his first three starts as a four-year-old, and he later added the Gr 3 King’s Cup to end the season merit rated 103; Changingoftheguard did well as a three-year-old winning two races including a Listed race and was merit rated 95, but an eight month break from January until September benefitted him because in his second start as a four-year-old he won the Matchem Stakes, beating the crack three-year-old King Of Pain. These are just three examples of the progeny of a sire who have always paid to follow the moment they turn four-years-old as the improvement is notable in virtually every instance.
Royal Badge himself did well as a three-year-old, winning three races, but his first black type-earning performance came in the December of this season as a four-year-old when cruising to a 2.75 length win in the Gr 3 Grand West Cape Summer Stayers handicap over 2500m. He is now merit rated 95 and among his competition on Saturday will be another Go Deputy four-year-old, Go Direct, who has also proved progressive this season.
Royal Badge has a tricky draw of seven in the nine horse field, but in that last 1600m race he had a similar draw and was dropped out to second where he found the rail and switched off nicely.
