The Melbourne Cup aspirations for King Pedro have largely been extinguished, but his connections are hopeful of salvaging some success from the promising stayer’s current campaign in his upcoming starts.

After a commanding victory in the Grafton Cup (2350m) back in July, King Pedro was slated for a run in The Metropolitan. However, a sudden illness unfortunately disrupted these plans.

Consequently, he will make his comeback in the Group 2 Hill Stakes (1900m) at Rosehill this Saturday. Although still entered for the Melbourne Cup (3200m) nominations, co-trainer Tom Charlton indicated it would be too soon for him to compete at that level.

“Realistically, the autumn is probably going to be his time,” Charlton stated. “We left him in (the Melbourne Cup), but it was just in case. Unfortunately, he was due to follow a ‘Metrop’ path, but he got sick at the wrong time. This is short of his best and a bit off-plan, but it’s the only race to get him going in.”

Despite the setback in his Metropolitan hopes, King Pedro benefits from residual fitness gained during his winter preparation and has impressed the stable since resuming.

The defending champion Lindermann is considered the horse to beat in the Hill Stakes, currently listed as the $1.90 favourite. Nevertheless, Charlton anticipates King Pedro, priced at $15, will be a competitive contender.

“I’ll be interested to see how he runs,” he commented. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see him run a good race. If the best Lindermann comes he’s obviously pretty effective and hard to beat. This weekend will tell us a lot.”

Should King Pedro perform admirably this weekend, a potential target could be the Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) at Randwick on October 31.

Stablemates Starzintheireyes and Mister Rizz were also nominated for the Hill Stakes but did not feature in the final acceptances. Both horses are instead entered for the Kia Ora Bloodlines To Headlines Handicap (2000m) on the undercard.

Charlton confirmed that Mister Rizz is set to race from barrier three. The stable is currently deliberating whether to start Starzintheireyes from the widest gate, 13, or await the Group 3 Coongy Handicap (2000m) at Caulfield on Wednesday.

“‘Starz’ could have the option of the Coongy in Melbourne, but we’ll just have a think,” Charlton concluded. If King Pedro performs well, you might find competitive racing odds at Australian betting sites.