James Tate on Royal Aclaim ahead of the Nunthorpe Stakes at York

“The standard-setting favourite gave his running again and there were several promising efforts from the newcomers that finished around him, the timefigure and sectionals further reasons to think this is good form for the grade.”

That is how Timeform began the report on the novice event won by Royal Aclaim at Newcastle in May 2021. “Royal Aclaim knew what was required and made a winning start in smooth fashion,” the report continued. “Her yard's two-year-olds tend to come on for their first start and she seems sure to do better.”

Nearly 14 months on and it’s fair to say that Royal Aclaim has done far better than anyone could have expected, though it didn’t happen for her as a two-year-old like it did with Perfect Power and Fearby, the third- and fourth-place finishers from that Newcastle novice (watch the replay below).

Royal Aclaim missed the rest of her two-year-old campaign due to injury, but Perfect Power went on to win the Norfolk Stakes, Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes, while Fearby won a Listed contest at Sandown before later finishing second in the Molecomb Stakes, fourth in the Gimcrack Stakes and third in the Mill Reef Stakes.

It was good form for the grade, indeed, and the way it worked out provided trainer James Tate with a degree of comfort during Royal Aclaim’s period of convalescence.

The major two-year-old prizes may have passed them by, but Tate could head into the winter safe in the knowledge he had a very talented filly on his hands, the daughter of Aclaim he picked up for just 60,000 guineas at the Guineas Breeze-Up Sale less than four weeks before her debut.

“I remember her flying past in her breeze,” Tate said when describing how Royal Aclaim came to be in his yard. “My father-in-law and I looked at each other and we both thought ‘I like that one’.

“She really caught our eye and Sheikh Juma [Dalmook Al Maktoum, owner] was watching in Dubai. He felt exactly the same, so we were delighted to pick her up for 60,000 guineas. I remember at the time thinking she would be more.”

Royal Aclaim had reportedly done just a couple of pieces of work before her debut, but Tate was keen to press on to find out whether she might be Royal Ascot material. In the event, Royal Aclaim suffered an injury after her Newcastle success which put paid to any plans to run her in the Queen Mary, but not before she’d underlined her star quality with a sparkling gallop.

“She won first-time-up at Newcastle and obviously we had no idea at the time what we’d beaten,” Tate said. “She came out of that race well and when we did a piece of work to get her ready for the Queen Mary she absolutely blew us away. It was an incredible piece of work and that was the first time we knew we had a good one.

“Unfortunately, she picked up an injury and didn’t get to the Queen Mary. As time went by it turned out we’d beaten Perfect Power, Fearby and other useful horses first-time-up. And we’d seen that piece of work from her since – it all added up. So, whilst she’d had an injury and we had to be patient with her, we knew at the same time we had a good filly on our hands.”

It wasn’t until June this year that Royal Aclaim made her belated reappearance in another novice event at Bath. It looked a simple task on paper and Royal Aclaim duly obliged – or “laughed at the opposition” in the words of her trainer.

He added: “There wasn’t really any pressure going to Bath. We knew she was obviously good, the only question was ‘how good?’.

“We had brought her back carefully and gently, taking no chances. We just wanted to make sure she came out of the race okay and that the dream still lived on. We were delighted to get to Bath, have everything go well and come out the other side.”

Waiting on the other side after a four-week break was Saturday’s City Walls Stakes at York. That Listed heat obviously represented a significant rise in class, but it was seemingly the occasion which worried Tate more than the field of smart, well-established sprinters lined up against his filly.

“I was nervous on Saturday,” Tate admitted. “I think it was the most well-attended meeting I’ve been to for ages, I think there were about 30,000 people there.

"As I walked across the track and I heard the amount of people there, it did cross my mind that this filly had only been to Newcastle and Bath on quiet days, so it was going to be a real test.”

If Tate was worried that Royal Aclaim might not handle the preliminaries, it wasn’t because of anything she’d shown him previously. Indeed, by all accounts she has always been a consummate professional, and that showed on Saturday in the way that she took everything the Knavesmire had to throw at her in her stride.

“She has a very good mind on her,” Tate explained. “I said it in one of the interviews on the day, she’s quite arrogant. She really thinks she is the real deal and strolls about the place like that.

“And she can be quite unusual. Andrea [Atzeni, jockey] said at the start on Saturday there was a horse messing around in the next-door stall. They had the stalls handler in, up on the gate, and she never even acknowledged it.

“It’s the same if she’s out for a pick of grass at home. Something can go absolutely mad jumping around five yards from her and she won’t even look its way. She really thinks about herself and nothing else.”

That single-mindedness certainly served Royal Aclaim well in the race itself on Saturday, with Atzeni reportedly describing himself as “just a passenger” in the debrief with Tate afterwards. After tanking through the race, Royal Aclaim hit the front over a furlong out before quickening clear to win by two lengths with plenty in hand (watch the replay below).

Whilst Tate had clearly been confident that Royal Aclaim belonged at that level, was he surprised to see her win in quite the fashion that she did?

“Yes and no,” was Tate’s reply to that question. “We’ve had some fast sprinters in the past like Far Above and Invincible Army and we thought she was very, very good, but you need to see it on the racecourse.

“Really her first test was York on Saturday. That was the test of what we’d seen at home and to find out what sort of level she was at. We got to about two furlongs out and we had a fair idea, didn’t we?”

We certainly did, though we’ll have a better idea of just how good Royal Aclaim might be when she returns to York next month for the Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes. Atzeni has already volunteered himself for the plum ride and, while Royal Aclaim holds an entry in the King George Stakes at Goodwood later this month, Tate stressed that the priority is getting his filly to the Nunthorpe at the top of her game.

He said: “I think that would be greedy [to run at Goodwood]. After Saturday she looks race-fit for the first time in her life, now that she’s managed to get a couple of races under her belt in a month. She’s in peak physical condition and I think it would be greedy to try and squeeze another run in before the Nunthorpe, so let’s just go for the big one.”

The Nunthorpe is not just one of the biggest sprints in the calendar, but it is also a race which holds a special place in Tate’s heart. That is partly why Royal Aclaim made the journey to the Knavesmire on Saturday, with Tate keen to leave no stone unturned ahead of the Ebor Festival which begins exactly five weeks from today.

He explained: “I’m from Yorkshire myself and I’ve watched the Nunthorpe for years growing up, so it would be incredible to win it. It’s always been in my mind with this filly and that was part of the reason why it was nice to take her to that race on Saturday, because she got a bit of a taste of York. It went well and we’re looking forward to heading back there.”

It would certainly be a fitting way for Tate to make the breakthrough in Group One company if Royal Aclaim’s second taste of York was to end the same way as her first. Tate has had a couple of near misses at the top level before now, but none closer than when Hey Gaman was beaten just a neck in the 2018 Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

So, what is the likelihood of Royal Aclaim going one place better in the Nunthorpe? Well, she is currently the 5/2 favourite in Sky Bet's ante-post betting and Tate is in no mood to disagree that she belongs to be there.

He added: "I’ve had the second favourite for a Group One when Invincible Army ran in the Commonwealth Cup and I was hopeful that he might win it. But if this filly gets to the Nunthorpe, she would be a very deserving favourite – I think she’s special."

From her debut at Newcastle to Listed glory at York, the special Royal Aclaim certainly hasn't let Tate down yet and her new Timeform rating of 120p puts her right in the mix for the Nunthorpe.

Even now after three starts, the small 'p' attached to her rating denotes that Royal Aclaim seems sure to do better – a scary prospect for any potentials rivals at York next month.

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