Tom Queally rode a cracker on Duke Of Marmalade’s son
Drakenstein Stud’s exciting new stallion Duke Of Marmalade grabbed the limelight this weekend with yet another international stakes winner.
Tom Queally gave Big Orange a superb front-running ride to take the Win £10,000,000 on Betdaq Colossus Listed Chester Stakes on the Roodeye.
Michael Bell’s gelding was the only three-year-old in the race, but off bottom weight he was allowed to bowl along in front and given a soft lead in the 2700m contest.
Whiplash Willie, who was giving the winner 18lb, came with a threatening-looking run in the short straight but Big Orange (5-1) showed no signs of stopping and was still a length and a quarter ahead at the line to lift this Listed Handicap.
De Rigueur was a further five lengths away in third.
The lightly raced Big Orange has a top class pedigree and could develop into a real class act.
This was only his sixth start and his progression has been eye catching.
He ran second to Romsdal on his seasonal debut at his 3rd start, and it’s a race that has worked out really well as Romsal later finished 3rd in the Derby and is now rated 115.
He backed up that solid piece of form by winning his next start, only another maiden but the horse in second place won next time out and the horse who ran last (13 lengths behind) has won since.
Last time out he went straight into Listed company, finishing 4th to Hartnell, who won next time out and is now rated 110.
In that last race he was stepped right up from 2000m to 3200m.
He was in the lead at the 600m there and the drop down to 2700m on Saturday proved the winning tonic.
Big Orange was bred by Stetchworth & Middle Park Studs and is out of the Fasliyev mare, Miss Brown To You.
