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Craig Kerry
July 16, 2026 — 5:00pm
Tom Charlton hopes Roselyn’s Star and Forest King can pass first-up challenges at Rosehill on Saturday as the young trainer looks to finish his own test on a winning note.
Charlton has stepped up over the past four months while senior training partner John O’Shea has served a disqualification for improper conduct from an argument with Racing NSW veterinarians in February. Two appeals then an inquiry into O’Shea’s contact with jockey Tommy Berry have followed while Charlton has guided the Randwick and Hawkesbury stables in his first stint as a solo trainer.
Under the Englishman, who joined O’Shea’s operation in 2019 and became a co-trainer two years ago, the operation has racked up 24 wins at a strike rate of 15.3 per cent.
O’Shea’s disqualification ends on Friday, and he is in the process or reapplying for his licence. Charlton hopes to have him back next week, and, maybe, pinch a weekend off a stressful but productive period.
“It’s been really busy, but it’s been rewarding because it’s been a really lucrative period for me and the whole staff,” Charlton said.
“When it happened, I tried to be positive and the positive was that we’re all going to learn a lot from it, and be better out of it, and I don’t see any reason why that wouldn’t have happened.
“It only probably helps you, really. We’ve all got to go through stress to develop.
“We got put in a slightly compromised position, but most importantly I think all the owners and staff are happy with the way it’s maintained.
“It’s been good the whole way through. The horses have been running excellent and everyone’s been rewarded.
“The whole stable, with what John’s built … we got such an unbelievable start, everything has run pretty smoothly.”
Charlton, son of English Derby-winning trainer, Roger, said he had gained confidence from the stint.
“There’s some things where you just love to lean on opinions here and there, and you sort of second guess yourself,” he said.
“I think as probably things have gone on throughout the whole period, I’ve got more and more confident, and success obviously helps.”
Charlton has two chances to end his solo stint with a city win on Saturday, and both are kicking off.
Tiger Of Malay gelding Forest King won on debut over 1100m at Canterbury in February before finishing seventh in the group 3 Pago Pago Stakes (1200m).
Charlton was looking for a guide on Saturday on where to go with Forest King heading into the three-year-olds’ season. He was $8 (TAB) in the two-year-old race to open the Rosehill card.
“He came up a bit short in the Pago Pago, we gave him a break, and he looks to come back nice enough,” Charlton said.
“The 1200 looks the right sort of point for him to start. It looks like he will probably get 1400 in time perhaps, and we’ll sort of see what level he gets to this trip.
“He’s not the biggest horse, but he has improved, as you’d expect. He’ll need to, but he looks really well.
“He’s quite forward. He doesn’t carry a lot of excess weight so we’ll learn a bit more this weekend.”
Charlton was unsure of the spring path for Roselyn’s Star, which returns from a break and two sharp trials following a last-start win in the group 3 Star Kingdom Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on March 28. The almost five-year-old was a $4.60 chance from gate eight of 10 and looms as the biggest threat to back-to-back winner Ice Kool ($1.75) in the seventh, an open 1100m handicap.
“He’s building a nice profile,” Charlton said of the Star Kingdom win.
“He seems to have come back very well. The 1100m at Rosehill is a good starting point for him, although he’s drawn slightly awkwardly.
“There’s no real target. There are plenty of races in the spring for him, but we probably have in the back of our mind the Magic Millions in January.”
Charlton has Napoleonic returning in the first set of group-level trials at Randwick on Friday. He was third in the Doomben 10,000 before finishing 12th in the Kingsford Smith Cup.
“He’ll work towards the Missile Stakes at this stage,” he said.
“He had a bit of a freshen up after Queensland. His run in the 10,000 was excellent and then he didn’t quite follow it through in the Kingsford Smith.
“Whether the 1300 just tested him a bit that day, off a big performance first up, so we’ll give some thought about keeping him in the sprints.”
