Royal Supremacy Eyes Rare Spring Double
The spring carnival is heating up and Australian Bloodstock has got plenty of irons in the fire heading into what shapes as one of the most exciting Caulfield Cups in recent memory.
When you've watched a horse like Gold Trip back up from the Caulfield Cup into the Cox Plate and then go on to win the Melbourne Cup in the space of 17 days, you don't forget it in a hurry. That's exactly the kind of form guide Australian Bloodstock director Jamie Lovett is drawing on as connections of Royal Supremacy weigh up a crack at that same rare double this spring. Cosmic Crusader might have grabbed the headlines for considering the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate back-up, but Royal Supremacy is shaping as another genuine chance to attempt the feat.
Back in 2022, trainer Ciaron Maher pulled off one of the great spring carnival training performances when he sent Gold Trip into the Caulfield Cup, backed him up a week later in the Cox Plate, and then had him primed and ready to win the Melbourne Cup at the juicy odds of $21. Gold Trip finished second in the Caulfield Cup that year, ran a luckless ninth in the Cox Plate, and then ten days after that, saluted in the race that stops a nation. It was the kind of preparation that looked bold on paper but turned out to be nothing short of brilliant. Australian Bloodstock had a stake in that run, so they know better than most what's possible.
Now the same syndicate is looking at Royal Supremacy with genuine excitement heading into Saturday's $6 million Caulfield Cup over 2400 metres. Lovett is not holding back when it comes to his assessment of where this horse is at right now, and the numbers back him up. Royal Supremacy won the Group 1 Metropolitan over 2400 metres and the Q22 over 2200 metres in his most recent campaign, showing he's got both the class and the staying ability to be competitive at this level. But it's not just what he did last season that's got connections fired up. It's what they're seeing right now in trackwork and race-day feel that has them genuinely believing this horse has taken a significant step forward.
