Drakenstein Stud’s resident sire Duke Of Marmalade is constantly in the news, and his family continue to keep the Duke’s name to the fore.

His half-brother Belgravia, caught the eye when landing the second win of his career at Leopardstown on Thursday.
Trained by Aidan O’Brien, who also trained Duke Of Marmalade, the 3yo Belgravia stayed on strongly  to land a neck win over well bred favourite Clongowes over2400m.

Highly regarded by connections, Belgravia holds five group race entries, with his entries including both the G1 Corner Group International Irish St Leger and G1 William Hill St Leger Stakes.

The G3 placed Love Me True, dam of Belgravia and five time G1 winner Duke Of Marmalade, is a truly exceptional broodmare. The daughter of Kingmambo has eight winners to name, with her five stakes horses including Coolmore sire and G1 Investec Derby winner Ruler Of The World, G1 Irish Derby third Giovanni Canaletto and G2 Ubet Adelaide Cup winner Annus Mirabilis.

Duke Of Marmalade’s G1 Gold Cup winning son Big Orange, now a six time group winner, is currently the leader in the points standings for the Cartier Award of Champion Stayer.
The charismatic gelding, who has banked more than £1 million in prize money and currently rates as one of the most popular horses in training in the UK, is also a probable runner in next  Tuesday’s G1 Qatar Goodwood Cup (a race he has won the last two seasons running).
Big Orange’s Goodwood rivals could well include Duke Of Marmalade’s classic winning champion Simple Verse.

Another talented runner by the sire, Can’thelpbelieving, will look to add to his five wins, which includes the G3 Cliff Hanger Stakes, when he lines up in the G2 Nijinsky Stakes at Woodbine on Saturday.

Cartier Champion Duke Of Marmalade, already the sire of five G1 winners, will be represented by six lots at next month’s National Two Year Old Sale.