John O’Shea and Tom Charlton will not have their primary candidate for The Metropolitan competing, but they are keen to see another stable runner test its credentials for the feature race this weekend.
The Randwick training duo is eager for their promising import Starzintheireyes to secure a start in the $300,000 Group 2 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at their home track.
While the imported galloper is yet to break through in four Australian starts, he was an unlucky second when narrowly beaten by The Mona Lisa on debut, and Charlton expressed confidence in his potential.
“He’s been unfortunate not to win yet in Australia,” Charlton stated.
“He’s got a load of class and it was a big performance (last start).”
“We’re pretty sweet on him and at some stage the penny will really drop.”
Starzintheireyes, a son of Starspangledbanner, arrived in Australia having won two of his five previous starts, including the Group 3 Zetland Stakes (2011m) at Newmarket.
The five-year-old had three runs during his initial Australian preparation, recording a second placing over 1800m in benchmark 78 grade at Hawkesbury, a third in a BM88 over 2000m at Randwick, and a sixth over 2000m in BM100 company at Flemington on June 6.
He currently holds the second-lowest rating among the 19 entries for the Kingston Town Stakes, which has a capacity field of 14 runners plus emergencies. However, Charlton anticipates he will outperform his rating if he makes the field.
“If he ran well it could open the door of a Metrop,” he commented.
“But he’ll keep improving. He might end up in a nice race.”
The sole Kingston Town entrant with a lower rating than Starzintheireyes is Aethelwulf, who is the current favourite for the $750,000 Group 2 The Metropolitan on October 3. The entries are led by ATC Australian Derby winner Green Spaces. O’Shea and Charlton also have Athabascan nominated.
King Pedro is not nominated, having been sidelined due to an elevated temperature which dashed hopes of a start in The Metropolitan for the recent Grafton Cup victor. Nonetheless, Charlton remains optimistic about his return to racing later this spring.
“We’re assessing him at the moment and perhaps where we can get to, but the Kingston Town is just going to come a little bit too quick,” he said.
The Kingston Town Stakes is one of four Group 2 contests scheduled for Saturday’s Randwick meeting, which will be highlighted by Autumn Glow’s participation in the $1 million Seven Stakes (1600m).
For the latest racing odds, check out these Australian betting sites.
