destinado

The six-year-old Lope De Vega gelding Destinado has been a revelation for Deva Racing since joining Newmarket trainer James Owen, winning six times in 2024 already!

A beautifully-related Juddmonte homebred, he is a half-brother to the Gr.3 Prix Penelope winner Agave (by Dubawi) and out of a winning half-sister to the great Enable (Nathaniel). Originally trained by Francis-Henri Graffard in France, he was second twice from five outings before moving to Britain midway through 2021. 

Although largely disappointing during his initial seasons in Britain - save for a 1m4f win at Wolverhampton in February 2023 – the upshot was that Destinado was a very well-handicapped horse when sourced by Deva Racing.

He made a winning debut for James Owen in a 1m1½f 0-55 Wolverhampton handicap in early January, then hacked up in a 1m4f Classified contest at Southwell just under a fortnight later. A 1m2f victory at Lingfield followed shortly afterwards, a success that was supplemented by a 1m3f victory at Southwell in late February. 

By now Destinado had risen from a mark of 45 to the low 60s, but his improvement was just beginning. Lining up at the Lincoln meeting at Doncaster towards the end of March, he gave James Owen a winner with his first ever Flat runner on turf, storming to a 3.25L success in a well-contested 0-70 handicap. He was back in the winner’s circle again at Musselburgh in April, showing tremendous courage to win a 1m4½f handicap by a neck, and is now rated around two stone higher than at the start of the year! 

Winning six races in four months is almost unheard of these days, so a huge amount of credit needs to go to James Owen and his team. Who knows where the ceiling of Destinado’s improvement lies?

He has been a magnificent success story for his owners, and a glowing advert for the shrewd way in which Deva Racing horses are sourced. Equally effective on turf and the all-weather and over a vast range of distances, don’t be surprised to see this remarkably tough and consistent horse add to his tally in the coming weeks and months.