Valuable international target mooted for impressive Winter Derby winner Royal Champion

Karl Burke became the latest trainer to add his name to the winning roster of the BetUK Winter Derby Stakes after Royal Champion maintained his unbeaten all-weather record in the Group 3 race. 

The seven-year-old joined Burke this winter after a spell in Australia and took his yard record to two wins from as many starts when fending off joint-favourite Military Academy under Clifford Lee. 

"He did that very well, I was delighted," Burke told Sky Sports Racing. "I thought he'd get the trip as long as he got into a nice rhythm. I was pretty confident all the way round, to be honest."

Alongside his all-weather record, Royal Champion has an impressive turf CV, which includes a Royal Ascot win and a Grade 1 runner-up finish in Canada, and another trip abroad could be on the horizon next month. 

"He's a good horse and he's already proved that on the turf, so I don't see why we wouldn't have a lot of fun with him this summer," Burke added. 

"This was the target, but there's a very valuable race in Hong Kong at the end of April over a mile and two furlongs, worth a couple of million. He's a horse who could be very competitive if the owner is happy to go there. There's lots of options over the summer and we'll tee him up for something."

Clarendon conquers

Clarendon House has also proved his worth on the turf and all-weather and earned another valuable prize with success in the Listed Hever Sprint Stakes. 

The Middleham Park-owned seven-year-old denied favourite Marshman by half a length to clinch his first win since scoring at Cork last summer. 

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