Thursday, 20 September 2018: New Zealand stayer Sir Charles Road is ready to stake his claim for a Caulfield Cup berth when he makes his Melbourne debut on Saturday.

Sir Charles Road

Sir Charles Road  needs to qualify for a Caulfield Cup through Saturday’s G3 MRC Foundation Cup (2000m), a race where the winner gains ballot exempt status for next month's Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m).
The versatile five-year-old gelding won the G2 Chairman’s Quality (2600m) at Randwick in the autumn before he was placed in the G1 Sydney Cup (3200m) but is still only 53rd on the order of entry for the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and 47th for the Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Prepared by Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott, Sir Charles Road has had two runs back from a spell and impressed when lumping 60.5kg to victory in the Reliable Man Trophy (1600m) at Hastings at the beginning of the month.
He arrived in Melbourne last Sunday and has settled in well at Mike Moroney’s Flemington stable.
“I’m really pleased with him. He went a little bit of even time and quickened a little bit this morning and he looks happy,” O’Sullivan said.
“He’s a tradesman-like trackworker but his action is good.
”I thought the Caulfield Cup would be the ideal race for him. He is a fast staying horse and probably better suited to the mile-and-a-half than the two miles.
“I think we need to see how he performs on Saturday and how he comes through it. After that we will discuss it further with his owner David Archer and make a plan.”
O’Sullivan weighed-in on the changing dynamic of the Melbourne Cup and the glut of international raiders that now dominate the entries.
The former champion jockey is well qualified to comment as his family, led by his father and NZ training great Dave O’Sullivan, have a long history with the Melbourne Cup going back to the 1970s.
“It’s lost its appeal to me personally. I don’t know how other people feel, but only because I just don’t know the horses,” he said.
“Unless you are really studying the international form and following them you have no idea.
“It has changed, it is not like it was. Has is changed for the better? I don’t know.
“It is certainly far more difficult these days to qualify by racing in New Zealand.”