Rue De Royale breaks through million-dollar barrier
Talented Kiwi-bred galloper Rue De Royale (NZ) (Per Incanto) took his career earnings past A$1 million with victory in Saturday’s A$130,000 Evergreen Turf Geoff Murphy Handicap (1200m) at Caulfield.
The Benchmark 78 handicap was the third win of a 26-start career for the Per Incanto gelding, who has placed on a further 12 occasions including seconds in the Gr.2 VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m), Gr.3 Blue Sapphire (1400m) and Restricted Listed Inglis Millennium (1100m), along with third placings in the Gr.2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) and the Listed Bendigo Guineas (1400m). He has now earned A$1,070,950.
Rue De Royale earned a reputation as something of a perennial bridesmaid, winning only once in his first 20 starts while being a nine-time placegetter. But he has started to turn that around as a four-year-old this season, with a victory at Flemington on New Year’s Eve followed by another one four starts later on Saturday.
“He’s won a lot of money,” co-trainer Tony McEvoy said. “We’ve placed this horse really aggressively, and I probably left him entire for a year too long. We just felt that he might have had a stakes win in him, but we never quite got there.
“Since he’s been gelded, he’s become very tough, very honest and a very good racehorse.
“We’ve got a few options we can look at now. He’s a gelding and he’s fit and well, so we’ll just keep racing him while he’s racing well.
“We could go to the Goodwood (Gr.1, 1200m) in Adelaide if we want to get aggressive again. Every time we’ve run him in a big race, he’s run well, so you wouldn’t shy away from that. There’s also the Hareeba (Listed, 1200m) and the Wangoom (Listed, 1200m).”
Rue De Royale was ridden on Saturday by Molly Bourke, who brought up her first metropolitan win since making the move from Sydney to Melbourne.
Bourke took up a handy position on the outside of front-runner Celsius Star (Zoustar), then pounced at the top of the straight.
Rue De Royale thrust his head in front with 250m to run, and he dug deep to repel the late challenge of the favourite Duchess Zou (Zoustar) in a tight finish.
“It’s definitely a bit of a breakthrough,” Bourke said. “I made the big decision to move from Sydney, where I had established myself up there, to come and give it a crack down here. To get that first winner off the back is a great feeling.
“I can’t thank the McEvoy team enough here today for giving me the opportunity on this horse. They had him right and ready to go.
“We were all on the same page going into the race, which is always nice. I’d previously ridden Celsius Star, so I knew it would go forward and give us a good cart across. As long as we got the first half of the race right, I thought he (Rue De Royale) should be strong at the finish, which he was.”
Rue De Royale was bred by Little Avondale Stud and Buzz and Susie Williams. He is by Per Incanto out of the Exceed and Excel mare Urban Royal – a winning three-quarter-sister to the dam of Group One-winning Godolphin stars Alizee (Sepoy) and Astern (Sea Link).
Offered by Sledmere Stud during the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney, Rue De Royale was bought by McEvoy Mitchell Racing Pty Ltd and Belmont Bloodstock Agency for A$180,000.
Since producing Rue De Royale, Urban Royal has foaled fillies by Ardrossan in 2024 and Per Incanto in 2025. She was served last spring by Per Incanto’s son, the Gr.1 Blue Diamond (1200m) winner Little Brose, who stands alongside his sire at Little Avondale and will have his first foals on the ground next season.
