Tom Charlton’s overriding emotion was relief after King Pedro, making amends for a series of unlucky placings, delivered a commanding performance to win the Stayers Cup at Rosehill.
Since his last victory at Gosford in November, the lightly raced gelding had finished runner-up in four of his five subsequent starts. Charlton admitted to feeling anxious leading up to Saturday’s race, with the horse being the $2 favourite according to leading Aussie betting sites.
“I’m a bit nervous because I feel like the horse has been quite unfortunate for a lot of this preparation,” Charlton said. “I’m relieved for the owners and staff and horse that he has managed to get the job done.”
He added, “He’s a really nice stayer. He will definitely make a better grade, and a good grade, in time. He is effective on all ground, effective at 2000 to 2400 (metres), and he could be effective over even further in time.”
King Pedro, a four-year-old, is a son of Eminent, a New Zealand-based stallion by Frankel who is not widely known in Australia. The stable had identified him as a promising stayer after he finished sixth from a wide draw in the 2025 New Zealand Derby (2400m), and Charlton was hopeful he could climb back into better company.
His next start is likely to be the Grafton Cup (2350m) next month, with further targets including races like The Metropolitan (2400m).
“Those are the sort of races, maybe a Sydney Cup some day,” Charlton mused. “Whether it comes too soon, but we do feel he could make it into a race like that. He is still quite an unfurnished horse so there is plenty more to come.”
Charlton also explained the decision-making process for the gelding’s next steps: “We toyed with the idea of going to Caloundra (Cup) next weekend, but we thought the option of an easier race to try to win, and then potentially go to something nicer was probably more suitable.”
Ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, King Pedro ($2 favourite) cruised to a comfortable three-length victory over Pinhole ($6), with the outsider Masoun ($101) finishing a short neck behind in third.
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