While Tom Charlton boasts a Group 1 contender for Saturday’s feature at Rosehill, a stablemate in a support race might represent the stable’s most promising staying talent.
King Pedro is set to tackle 2400 metres for the first time this campaign in the $160,000 Stayer’s Cup. This New Zealand-bred son of Eminent has encountered a string of unfortunate circumstances in his three starts this preparation, including a narrow second place over 2000m at Rosehill on June 13, and Charlton is hopeful for a turn of luck.
“He probably hasn’t had a lot of luck for his past four runs, to be fair,” Charlton stated. “You could make a case that he’s been unlucky in all of them, but he’s building into the preparation very well.”
Two starts back, King Pedro finished second at Gosford over 2100m, being caught late by Monopolistic after an early move. This followed a seventh-place finish on debut over 1600m at Randwick on Anzac Day, where he faced interference in the straight but was ultimately beaten by only a length.
The Stayer’s Cup marks King Pedro’s first run at 2400m since a similarly close second in benchmark 78 grade at Randwick on December 20.
Due to his recent bad luck, King Pedro has secured only two victories from 14 starts and carries a rating of 77. This explains his light weight of 54.5kg on Saturday. Charlton indicated that a strong performance this weekend could warrant a shot at Stakes company.
“We toyed with going to the Caloundra Cup (next week), but if he was to run well in the Stayer’s Cup he could go to the Grafton Cup two-and-a-half weeks later,” Charlton commented. “He’s clearly got a good future, probably at a grade better than this, and he should stay well.”
King Pedro will be accompanied at Rosehill by Maison Louis, the previous year’s Queensland Derby victor, who aims to rebound from a disappointing run in the Listed Winter Cup (2400m) and will contest the $200,000 Listed McKell Cup over 2000m. “His runs prior to last weekend have all been with plenty of merit, just with barriers draws and things not working out, so I would be confident he can run well at Listed grade.”
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