Royal Banquet arrived at Gwenda Markwell's stables on his last chance.
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The soon-to-be six-year-old gelding had bounced around from Brad Widdup, to Nathan Doyle and John Moore and on to Toby and Trent Edmonds then back to Doyle.
Along the way he'd had four consecutive victories for Widdup and Doyle, but had always proven a handful.
Before arriving at Kembla Grange, he refused to leave the barriers in a 1000-metres trial at Gosford. But Kiama owner and breeder Matthew Sandblom, a long-time backer of Markwell, wanted to give him another shot.
There were signs of encouragement when Royal Banquet closed off nicely for third in an open trial behind Flower Press and Maccomo.
He was swamped late after hitting the lead on the turn at Canterbury, but seeds for more success had been planted.
Last time out, Royal Banquet turned the tables on Snitzonfire and held off the challengers for a fifth career victory.
As a result, the Markwell team take him to Randwick for a 1300m BenchMark 88.
"It's a very hard race, he's up in grade," assistant trainer Nigil Monahan said.
"But at his best, he's up to it, he deserves his chance.
"When he came to us, we needed to work out if he still wanted to be a racehorse, it was his last chance but Matthew has been a great client and supporter of Gwenda.
"We've just tried to keep him happy, enjoy himself around the stables and not work too hard, he can be tricky."
Monahan was hopeful the Randwick surface would hold up during the ongoing rainfall and had Wednesday's Warwick Farm meeting as a back-up option.
Royal Banquet is a $21 chance, with John O'Shea's Waihaha Falls a hot favourite at $1.60.
Meanwhile, Theresa Bateup's Monegal ($26) will tackle the Winter Challenge (1500m) at Randwick before heading to the Coffs Harbour Cup next month, in the hope of qualifying for the $2 million The Big Dance on Melbourne Cup day.
As Markwell launches a career resurgence, Brett Lazzarini takes Catesby to the July Sprint on Saturday, continuing a recent turnaround in form.
Catesby was fifth in the Listed Ramornie Handicap at Grafton after finishing second in an 1100m BenchMark 78 at Randwick when jumping at $101.
Called off
The big wet continues to disrupt sporting events in the region, with yet another scheduled Kembla Grange meeting postponed on Thursday.
"Kembla Grange races today were postponed following 17mm of rain [Wednesday] night and surface water present on the track," Racing NSW stewards said in a statement.
Read more: 2022 Million Dollar Chase on in September
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