Royes has winter targets with Burlington Arcade

By Glenn Davis

Trainer Steven Royes is hopeful talented sprinter Burlington Arcade can make it to the Northern Queensland Winter Racing Carnival later this year, but time will determine his mission.

Burlington Arcade has started three times for Royes for two wins and a second after a brief career in Victoria with Anthony and Sam Freedman.

He was bought by Tom Hedley after placing at his first two starts at Bendigo and Sale and will line up in the QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap at Townsville on Tuesday.

A son of Justify, Burlington Arcade is coming off a last start second against his own age behind the Peter Cullen-trained Carohvic on a heavy track at Townsville on March 15.

“I don’t think he’s a wet track horse and his run was super,” Royes said.

“He’s by Justify so who knows what distance he’ll get out to as some of them can run 2000 metres.

“He’ll definitely run 1400 metres and probably 1600 metres so he’ll head towards the carnival after one more run.

“I’m not sure what races he’ll be aimed for at this stage as it’s still a long way off.”

Royes has retained regular rider Ryan Wiggins for Burlington Arcade.

“He should be very hard to beat again on his last run when he drew the outside and gave the leader a lot of ground on the home turn,” he said.

"He’s a nice horse but he’s not the best horse I’ve trained but potentially he could be.

“He’s got untapped ability and is a nice horse going forward.”

Royes was a former mines supervisor in Mount Isa and Cloncurry in the state’s North West when he decided to move for family reasons to Townsville three years ago.

He began training in 1986 and mucked around with a few horses for about 30 years with sister Shryn who also is a trainer.

The former hobby trainer had a handful of horses in work at Mount Isa while working as a supervisor but since moving to Townsville, he’s now training a stable of 16 at Wulguru, which backs on to Townsville’s Cluden Park.

Of the 16 boxes he has, nine are filled by Hedley-owned horses.

“I’ve got a great sponsor in Tom Hedley and I’ve got nine in work for him,” Royes said.

Royes is currently striking at 15% this season with 23 wins and 43 placings from 152 starters.

“I’ve had a few winners this season, but I’ve also had a lot placings,” he said.