27 Facts About Royal Applause

Royal Applause was a British Champion Thoroughbred racehorse and sire.

Royal Applause was undefeated in four races as a two-year-old in 1995, including the Group One Middle Park Stakes, the Group Two Gimcrack Stakes and the Group Three Coventry Stakes.

Royal Applause was rated the second best colt of the year behind Alhaarth.

Royal Applause went on to become a successful stallion and was based at the Royal Studs at Sandringham, Norfolk.

Royal Applause was a dark-coated bay horse with two white socks who stood 15.2 hands high.

Royal Applause was bred at his owner Maktoum Al Maktoum's Gainsborough Stud near Newbury in Berkshire, England.

Royal Applause's sire Waajib was a miler who won the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot in 1988.

Waajib was not a great success, siring the winners of fewer than 150 races, with Royal Applause being easily his best offspring.

Royal Applause's dam Flying Melody was a successful racehorse who went on to be an excellent broodmare.

Apart from Royal Applause she produced the European Champion Two-Year-Old Filly, Lyric Fantasy, and the Dewhurst Stakes winner, In Command.

Royal Applause was trained throughout his career by Barry Hills at Lambourn.

Three weeks later Royal Applause was moved up in class as he was sent to Royal Ascot for the Coventry Stakes.

Royal Applause started as the odds-on favourite at York, but after leading for most of the race he was strongly challenged in the final furlong by Tumbleweed Ridge and had to be driven out to hold on and win by a head.

On his final race of the season Royal Applause was stepped up to the highest level for the Group One Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket.

Royal Applause was brought back to sprint distances for the King's Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Royal Applause led from the start and outpaced his opponents in the last quarter-mile to win by two lengths in his most impressive display since his two-year-old season.

The huge field split into two groups, with Royal Applause leading the far side group.

Royal Applause opened up a clear lead in the last two furlongs and despite drifting towards the centre of the track in the closing stages he stayed on to win by a length and a half from Blue Goblin.

Royal Applause quickly adopted his customary position at the head of the field as his rivals became involved in an exceptionally rough race behind him.

Royal Applause went clear a furlong out to record the biggest win of his career by one and a quarter lengths from the fast-finishing Danetime.

Royal Applause challenged strongly in the final furlong but could finish only third, beaten half a length and a short head by the fillies Carmine Lake and Pas de Reponse.

Royal Applause's cause was not helped when he panicked and sustained minor injuries on his first encounter with American-style starting stalls.

Royal Applause made no show in the race itself, finishing last of the fourteen runners on his only start on dirt.

At the 1997 Cartier Racing Awards, Royal Applause was named European Champion Sprinter.

Royal Applause proved himself as a sire of sires and stood at the Royal Studs at Sandringham, Norfolk.

Royal Applause sired the winners of well over seven hundred races, including seventeen at Group race level, and, not surprisingly given his racing career, proved especially effective as a sire of sprinters.

Royal Applause died at Sandringham House on 24 December 2022 at age 29.