THE early results achieved by Duke Of Marmalade were promising but some way short of what one would hope to see from a top-class Danehill (by Danzig) horse from one of the world’s most famous stallion-producing families.

It made his export inevitable and that his new home is in South Africa is no surprise given how well his relation Al Mufti (by Roberto) did in that country.

The former Coolmore team member is now at Drakenstein Stud although his immediate family is still available here as his Derby-winning half-brother Ruler Of The World (by Galileo) stood his first season in Fethard this year.

Duke Of Marmalade has had two Group 1 classic winners in 2015, namely Star Of Seville and Nutan, and he has also been represented by Big Orange, the Michael Bell-trained four-year-old who won the Group 2 Princess of Wales’s Arqana Racing Club Stakes over 12 furlongs at Newmarket.

That gelding was bred by Stetchworth & Middle Park Studs, he won listed contests at Chester and Ascot last year but was well-beaten at Chester and York on his first two starts of the current campaign, hence his 25/1 odds.

As one would expect of a mare who went to Duke Of Marmalade in his second season at stud, Big Orange’s dam Miss Brown To You (by Fasliyev) comes from a family that has a long association with Group 1 and other pattern winners.

He is her second foal, his older half-sister Empowermentofwomen (by Manduro) won over eight and a half furlongs at Wolverhampton, and his dam’s string of successful siblings includes one of the family’s two celebrities whose have earnings in excess of £4 million.

Her half-brother Almaty (by Dancing Dissident) was a talented sprinter who sired some winners from limited opportunities, and their sibling Impeller (by Polish Precedent) was also prolific, but their achievements pale in comparison to those of their half-brother Military Attack (by Oratorio).

That multi-millionaire and international Group 1 star is very closely related to Big Orange as both are grandsons of Danehill.

Miss Brown To You is also a half-sister to Artisia (by Peintre Celebre), a filly who was beaten 20 lengths when runner-up in a three-runner mile contest at Ascot, the only time she was placed.

Despite this undistinguished record Artisia has secured her place in the history books as she is the dam of the Ed Dunlop-trained Group 1-winning globetrotter Red Cadeaux (by Cadeaux Genereux), the triple Group 1 Melbourne Cup runner-up whose earnings are just short of hitting £5 million.

The grandam of Big Orange is Almaaseh (by Dancing Brave), a placed daughter of the Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Al Bahathri (by Blushing Groom) and so a half-sister to the 2000 Guineas and Champion Stakes star Haafhd (by Alhaarth).

She is also a half-sister to the Group 2 scorer Munir (by Indian Ridge), to the Group 1-placed stakes winner Hasbah (by Kris) and to Gmaasha (by Kris), the unraced dam of Gladiatorus (by Silic) who won the Dubai Duty Free at Nad Al Sheba and the Premio Vittoria di Capua in Milan, both Group 1.

There are many other good horses to be found in the various branches of this family, including Group/Grade 1 winners such as Spanish Fern (by El Gran Senor), Heatseeker (by Giant’s Causeway), Lord Shanakill (by Speightstown) and Together Forever (by Galileo).

Big Orange may not be in the same league as some of his more famous relations but he has ability, and although entered in the Group 2 Goodwood Cup it is striking that his career-best effort came over the shortest trip he has tried since winning his maiden over 10 furlongs at Lingfield early last year.