Luckless in all of his first three runs this time in, Kiwi-bred gelding King Pedro turned his campaign around in style in the A$160,000 Ranvet Stayers Cup (2400m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The Tom Charlton-trained four-year-old had been plagued by bad luck and traffic trouble on his way to finishing seventh over 1600m at Randwick on April 25, second over 2100m at Gosford on May 9 and a desperately unlucky second by a nose in a 2000m race at Rosehill on June 17.
King Pedro’s supporters kept the faith for Saturday’s Benchmark 90 assignment, sending him out as a $2 favourite, and this time there was no hard-luck story.
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy had King Pedro travelling sweetly in fourth along the rail, and he was unfazed when the first three pulled ahead down the back straight and put a big margin between themselves and the rest of the field.
McEvoy began to warm up King Pedro’s engines coming up to the home turn, and he cruised up behind the leaders at the top of the straight. All he needed was a way through, and McEvoy found an opening with 350m to run.
King Pedro dashed through that gap and soon took command, drawing away to win by three lengths to improve his career record to 15 starts for three wins, seven placings and A$255,159 in stakes.
Charlton is now eyeing bigger and better things, starting with the A$200,000 Listed Grafton Cup (2350m) on July 16.
“I was a bit nervous today, 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'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 2000m to 2400m, and he could be effective over even further in time – maybe races like the Metropolitan (Gr.1, 2400m) and Sydney Cup (Gr.1, 3200m) some day.
“He is still quite an unfurnished horse, so there is plenty more to come. We toyed with the idea of going to Caloundra 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."
King Pedro was bred by Ray Johnson, best known as the breeder of multiple Group One winner Mr Brightside.
King Pedro is by Brighthill Farm stallion Eminent out of the unraced O’Reilly mare Jiving.
Originally named Don Pedro, the gelding began his career in the Opaki stable of Peter Jeffcoat, who bought him for $3,900 on Gavelhouse.com in October of 2022. From six starts for Jeffcoat, King Pedro recorded a win, two seconds, a third and a fourth.
In his final New Zealand start before being sold to OTI Racing, King Pedro finished sixth behind Willydoit in last year’s Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie. – NZ Racing Desk.
