Royal Patronage draws barrier 17 for the Epsom Handicap

Kovalica has not won a race since his victory in the Group 1 Queensland Derby (2400m) with the Chris Waller stable hoping the now five-year-old can atone for an unlucky defeat in last year’s Group 1 Epsom Handicap (1600m).

“Kovalica is probably the headline horse. He has been off his best form for a while but his first-up run was good and James Mcdonald will ride, which is obviously a big plus,” Waller said.

Held up when flashing late to just miss stablemate Rediener last year, McDonald will jump from the inside gate, with stable representative Charlie Duckworth happy with the inside draw given the horse will carry 55.5kg, up 1kg from last year.

“He got the perfect draw. A lot of the horses carrying weight in the race have drawn wide so it’s a serious advantage. You won’t be forced to carry that weight from an awkward draw. So, look, I’d say he’s probably going to be our top seed in the race and very hard to beat from that draw,” Duckworth said.

Waller will be represented by seven runners as he bids for a sixth Epsom, with Kovalica the pick of those at $6 from Democracy Manifest at $13, who will jump from barrier 10 with Kerrin Mcevoy to ride.

Royal Patronage remains the early $4.50 favourite despite drawing barrier 17. The former UK and American galloper won the Group 2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) first up in Australia before a close up third to Fangirl in the 7 Stakes (1600m) last start.

He and stablemate Major Beel will attempt to give Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott a record eighth Epsom, and her first in partnership with Adrian Bott.

Ceolwulf for Joseph Pride shares the second line of betting with Kovalica at $6 and will jump from barrier 14 while James Cummings and Godolphin will rely solely on Tom Kitten who drew wide in barrier 19 but remains on the third line of betting at $11.

“I would have liked to have been, to draw a little bit favourable in inside draw, but look his first-up run… it just worked out perfectly, he was able to fall asleep and really savage the line,” Godolphin’s Darren Beadman said.

“His last run he had genuine excuses, he got interfered with and it was a very messy race. Probably if you look back at his autumn record, in hindsight it might be a blessing, because the handicapper wasn’t able to get in. So hopefully under-handicapped conditions, we’ll see the real content.”