Royal Fixation to join Karl Burke

Yulong Investments have added a touch of quality to their growing British-based string by purchasing Lowther Stakes scorer Royal Fixation, who will join Karl Burke’s academy of talent in Middleham.

Royal Fixation was never outside the top three during an excellent juvenile campaign for Ed Walker and former owners Opulence Thoroughbreds, with her Group Two win at York sandwiched by a neck defeat by Burke’s Prix Morny heroine Venetian Sun in the Duchess of Cambridge Stakes and a highly-respectable third behind Aidan O’Brien’s True Love in the Cheveley Park Stakes.

She will now head to Spigot Lodge to be put through her paces by Burke ahead of the spring, where she could give owner Yuesheng Zhang further Classic ambitions for the 2026 season, with his Gewan a leading player for the 2000 Guineas following his Dewhurst success in the autumn.

Zhang’s bloodstock and racing manager, Paul Curran. said: “We bought her a couple of months ago and she’s heading to Karl. She’s a good filly and hopefully one who can be lucky for us.

“We’ll take a good look at her and see what she can do, but she was very competitive last season and was beaten by a good filly of Karl’s who went on to win a Group One, so I think we could try to aim at around a mile.

“We could have Guineas ambitions but we haven’t made a definitive decision on where we go – it’s a possibility obviously and she could be one to go for something like that.

“If not I’m sure we’ll do plenty of campaigning with her in and around six and seven furlongs. She looks an exciting filly for sure.”

Royal Fixation will not only be housed alongside fellow Classic hopeful and Burke’s star of 2025 Venetian Sun in her new North Yorkshire home, but also Zhang’s Fillies’ Mile third Evolutionist, with the team keen to put more faith in a handler with an ever-growing arsenal at his disposal.

Curran added: “We’ve a very good relationship with Karl and one of the reasons she is heading up there is we believe he is the right man, he’s a very good trainer of these two-year-olds turning three, especially the fillies.

“We’ve already a special filly there in Evolutionist who could bring us some excitement next year and we’re in a good stable and have just added another nice one to the armoury I think.”