A late season two-year-old race will serve as an important litmus test for Forest King as trainer Tom Charlton looks to get a better guide on where to aim him in the spring.
The gelding will resume in the Kia Ora Bloodlines to Headlines Handicap (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday after kicking off his career with a two-start campaign highlighted by a debut win at Canterbury in February.
Stepped up to Group level in the Pago Pago Stakes (1200m), Forest King wasn’t disgraced when seventh to Warwoven, who went on to run competitively in the Golden Slipper.
Charlton says the youngster has returned in good order and is forward enough to run boldly at Rosehill.
“He came up a bit short in the Pago Pago. We gave him a break, and he looks to have come back nice enough,” Charlton said.
“We’ll see what level he gets to this ‘prep’.
“He’s not the biggest horse, but he has improved, as you’d expect. And he’d need to.
“We’ll get him racing and he’ll find where he’s going to be competitive, whether it’s in better grade or similar grade.”
Dylan Gibbons has the ride on Forest King from barrier five, while Zac Lloyd links with the stable’s other runner, Roselyn’s Star, who resumes in the Schweppes Handicap (1100m).
The five-year-old is coming off his most consistent campaign to date, which culminated with a Group 3 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) victory at Rosehill in March, and he generally performs well fresh.
“That was a really good win for him. He’s building a nice profile,” Charlton said.
“He seems to have come back very well, and 1100 metres at Rosehill suits him. He has drawn slightly awkwardly, but it’s a nice place for him to start.”
Charlton is yet to lock in a spring program for Roselyn’s Star but longer-term, the Magic Millions carnival at the Gold Coast in January is on the radar.
“There is no real target. There are plenty of races in the spring,” he said.
“I probably have, in the back of my mind, the Magic Millions in January. He qualifies for that, so we’ll probably look to take him back there at some point.”
