ROYAL ACADEMY AT THE DOUBLE

Five months after appearing a certainty beaten in a Pattern Race contest during the 2006 VRC Melbourne Cup Carnival, Deferential (2c, Royal Academy-Talent Time, by Quest For Fame) celebrated the maiden Group success of his flourishing career by trouncing his opposition in the STC Pago Pago Stakes (1200m).

A handsome chestnut son of Royal Academy, Deferential burst into 2007 Golden Slipper contention with a runaway success in the final lead-up for juvenile colts and geldings to the March 31 feature. Ridden off the pace in his usual fashion in a contest run at a genuine clip, Deferential showed his opposition a clean set of heels racing into the final furlong before running out a handsome two and a quarter lengths winner as a well supported 2/1 favourite. The colt will now back-up in next weekend’s Golden Slipper with genuine claims of winning the biggest 2-year-old event staged in the Southern Hemisphere.

Deferential’s success in the Group 2 STC Pago Pago Stakes proved to be the second leg of an interstate winning double by the current juvenile crop of Royal Academy. The only 2-year-old contest staged on the Caulfield card on the same day in Melbourne was won by Princess Zanzibar (2f, Royal Academy-Jozani, by Rubiton) who is now two-from-two.