Royal Patronage, carrying Larry Nestadt’s royal blue and yellow epaulette Australian colours, saunters to an impressive Gr 2 victory at Randwick on Saturday (via meta (Linda Tag (joint-owner)))
The familiar yellow and purple silks of the Hollywood Syndicate were not the only colours that flew the South African flag high overseas this weekend, because big Johannesburg-based owner Larry Nestadt had Gr 2 success in Australia with an exciting prospect called Royal Patronage, who was making his Australian debut at Randwick.
Nestadt’s all royal blue colours are well known in South Africa and have been associated with a lot of big race success. He has owned two horses of the year as he has shares in current Equus Horse Of The Year Dave The King and the 2010 Equus Horse Of The Year Irish Flame ran in his colours. In Australia his colours are also royal blue but with yellow epaulettes.
On Saturday the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Royal Patronage won at Randwick under Tim Clark and it was described by Racenet.com.au as a “stunning” performance.
In the Gr 2 Au$300,000 Tramway Stakes over 1400m Royal Patronage sat handy behind a strong pace before quickening in fine style and winning by 1,25 lengths despite coming off a 462 day layoff.
Nestadt is the chief owner in the Wootton Bassett five-year-old French-bred entire, who was purchased at a Tattersalls horses in training sale.
As a two-year-old Royal Patronage won the Gr 3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes over seven furlongs at York and the Gr 2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes over a mile at Newmarket. In the latter race he beat ill-fated Dubawi colt Caroebus. who went on to win the Gr 1 2000 Guineas and the Gr 1 St. James Palace Stakes.
As a three-year-old Royal Patronage was disappointing with a second place finish in the Gr 2 Dante over a mile-and-two-and-a-half furlongs at York and a fifth place finish in the Gr 1 Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes over a mile and two furlongs on the turf in the USA being his best finishes.
He stayed in the USA after the latter race, leaving the Mark and Charlie Johnston yard for the yard of Isivunguvungu’s trainer, Graham Motion.
He had four runs for Motion, two as a three-year-old and two as a four-year-old, and his best result was winning an Allowance race at Keeneland over a mile-and-a-half.
However, Gai Waterhouse’s expert eye spotted something in the colt, whose sire Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) commands a fee of €200,000. Wootton Bassett was a high class racehorse, whose career unfortunately coincided with the same crop as Frankel’s, meaning he was limited to one Gr 1 victory. However, his stud record features 80 stakes performers and from that number 31 of his sons and daughters have won in Group/Graded company, with nine being successful at Gr 1 level.
Royal Patronage is a Melbourne Cup entry.
He is an excitimg prospect as can be seen from the comments about him after the race.
“We were really confident with what we’d seen from him at home,” Bott said.
“He worked up quite sharply during the week, which was encouraging going into today.
“In fairness, Europeans having their first start in Australia and traditionally showing form over further and also the conditions today, we were just a bit mindful he may find the 1400m a bit too sharp for him.
“But the way the race panned out was excellent. There was good pressure on from the outset. He really put himself in the race from the gates.”
Top jockey Tim Clark said Royal Patronage will only “continue to improve” the deeper he goes into his spring campaign.
“He’s been going well at home, working fantastic, and his trials were good,” Clark said.
“When he was able to bounce and adjust to that 1400m speed so comfortably, I thought he would be hard to beat.
Nestadt has had extraordinary success in Australia recently.
Last year he had a Gr 1 win as well as multiple other Gr race victories and also a Melbourne Cup tenth place finish.
This year, besides Royal Patronage, he has four other Melbourne Cup entries, Just Fine, Miliitary Mission, New Endeavour and Balance Play.
The Irish-bred Just Fine (Sea The Stars) won the Gr 1 Metropolitan Handicap over a mile and four furlongs at Randwick last September and was made the ante-post second favourite for the 2023 Melbourne Cup, but he was scratched after running flat in his next start. They decided to wait for this year’s Cup instead. He ran in a Gr 2 over a mile on Saturday at Randwick and was beaten just 1,75 lengths into fifth, so should be peaking at the right time for The Cup.
Military Mission, who ran tenth in last year’s Melbourne Cup, is an Irish-bred by Mastercraftsman. He ran in the same race as Just Fine on Saturday and was beaten 5,75 lengths into ninth.
New Endeavour is also an Irish-bred and is by New Bay.
He finished second in the Gr 2 Hungerford Stakes over seven furlongs at Newbury last August and in Australia he has had a Gr 3 second and a Gr 1 second, both over a mile and two furlongs at Doomben, among other runs.
Balance Play is yet another Irish-bred import. He is by Lope de Vega, who is is one of Europe’s top stallions and stands for a fee of €125,000. The four-year-old gelding is yet to run in Australia but comes off a good three-year-old campaign for Ralph Beckett in England in 2023 where he won three handicaps from a-mile-and-two-furlongs to a-mile-and-three-furlongs and ended with an official rating of 101.
Nestadt’s Melbourne Cup entries are all trained by Waterhouse and Bott.
Waterhouse has won the Melbourne Cup once, in 2013, but has had 145 Gr 1 wins and has won the Sydney Trainers Premiership seven times.
She has been described as “the first lady of Australian racing” and is in the Australian Racing Hall Of Fame along with her legendary father Tommy J. Smith.
