The optimistically-named Royal Success is doing his best to live up to expectations, despite ongoing problems.
The talented son of Savabeel has been restricted to just eight career starts and the rising five-year-old has impressed with four wins and a placing.
Royal Success won three of his first four starts last season and resumed in style with a Premier day success at Trentham in December before another break. The gelding subsequently placed in one of his three autumn starts.
“He’s back now and we’re taking him along quietly. Hopefully, we can get a couple of trials into him on slower ground that will help his joints,” Richards said.Other promising gallopers in the stable making progress toward trials and a return to racing are Beaumarchais and Fashionably.
“We would expect them to improve between three and four and certainly they’re black type horses,” Richards said.The former, also by Savabeel, beat the older horses twice this season before he finished a solid fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Derby and runner-up to Charles Road in the Gr.3 Manawatu Classic.
“He’ll probably trial at Te Teko on Tuesday and then we’ll get him working through the grades, he’s very promising,” Richards said.“We left Fashionably out spelling for a bit longer and she’s looking good. We’ll be looking towards the carnival at Ellerslie at Christmas time with her.”
The regally-bred daughter of Redoute’s Choice and the dual Group One winner Scarlett Lady won once from a handful of starts this season and ended her campaign when fifth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks.
