Royal Palace (horse)

Royal Palace (1964–1991) was a British

Having won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, Royal Palace missed the important summer championship races to be prepared for the St Leger at Doncaster Racecourse. In August he sustained an injury which forced him to miss his trial race in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York. He fell behind in his preparation and worked badly a week before the St Leger, leading his connections to withdraw him from the race. He returned for the Champion Stakes over ten furlongs at Newmarket in October, but failed to reproduce his best form, finishing third behind Reform and Taj Dewan.

1968: four-year-old season

In 1968 the teenager Sandy Barclay replaced Moore and Royal Palace was undefeated in five races. He began by winning the Coronation Stakes at Sandown in May. He then won the Coronation Cup at Epsom and the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot.

In July, returned to Sandown for an exceptionally strong renewal of the Eclipse Stakes, in which his opponents included Taj Dewan and the 1968 Derby winner Sir Ivor, who started the 4/5 favourite. The race has been compared to the 1903 Eclipse, in which the Derby winners Ard Patrick and Rock Sand were opposed by the outstanding racemare Sceptre.^[6] Taj Dewan took the lead in the straight, and although Royal Palace produced a strong finish he appeared to have narrowly failed to catch the leader. The photo-finish, however, revealed that he had prevailed by a short-head from Taj Dewan, with Sir Ivor in three-quarters of a length behind in third. The race was rated forty-eighth in the Racing Post's 2005 listing of the "100 Greatest Races".^[7] On his final start, Royal Palace contested the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot. His main rival was expected to be Ribero, who had defeated Sir Ivor in the Irish Derby. In the straight Royal Palace sustained an injury to the suspensory ligament in his left foreleg, but stayed on to win by half a length from Felicio, with the future Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Topyo in third and Ribero fourth. The injury ended his racing career and he was retired to stud.^[8]

Assessment and honours

Despite his successes, Royal Palace was never voted British Horse of the Year, being beaten by Busted in 1967 and Sir Ivor in 1968. He was given a relatively modest Timeform rating of 131.

Stud career

As a stallion, Royal Palace was owned jointly by Jim Joel, Hon. Lady Macdonald-Buchanan, and

In 1991, at The National Stud near Newmarket, Suffolk in England, the twenty-seven-year-old Royal Palace was put down as a result of infirmities from old age. He is buried in The National Stud's horse cemetery.^[9]

Pedigree

References

External links

• British Pathé Newsreel of Royal Palace winning the 1967 Epsom Derby