Racing: Mr Charlie gets a second look

Luke Nolan riding Mr Charlie. Photo / Getty Images

MELBOURNE - Emerging stayer Mr Charlie may head to Sydney for the Metropolitan Hcp in an effort to qualify for the Caulfield and Melbourne Cups.

Leading Melbourne trainer Peter Moody said the new stable acquisition - formerly prepared by Ardmore trainer Stephen McKee - was so far down the order of entry he hadn't even bothered to check what weight (50kg) he received in the cups when they were released last week.

However, the trainer is taking more notice after Mr Charlie's impressive win in the Spring Is The Season Hcp (1700m) on a heavy track at Flemington on Saturday, beating imported galloper Fanjura by two lengths.

"He doesn't need a lot of racing. Steve McKee used to space his races and run him every four or five weeks," Moody said.

"The run was just to learn a bit more about him.

"He's well down the order in the cups so he might go to Sydney for the Metropolitan. It's beyond the realms that it could be his next run but we'll have to sit down and have a good think about where we go."

Other options were the group two Hill Stakes (1900m) at Rosehill and the group three Naturalism Stakes (2000m) at Caulfield, both on September 18.

Moody said he thought the horse might have needed blinkers but he was good enough to win without them going on Saturday.

Owned by Chan Cheong Lai, the 5-year-old is by Golan, the same sire as 2007 Victoria Derby winner Kibbutz.

He is out of the Maizcay mare Timpani, a three-quarter sister to Triscay, winner of an AJC Oaks and four other group one races.

Mr Charlie, a $70,000 yearling purchase, won four races in New Zealand from his 11 starts, including the New Zealand St Leger (2500m) at Trentham in March before his owner sent him to Moody.

"He's a lovely horse but with the New Zealand prizemoney he's lacking a few qualifications, so we'll have to be very careful where we place him to try to arrive at one of those races because I think he's a nice horse with good upside," Moody said.

"Whether he's a Caulfield or Melbourne Cup horse I'm not sure. He has to improve to entertain either of those races."

It was the start of a good weekend for Moody, who, on Sunday, saw his high-class mare Typhoon Tracy crowned Australia's champion racehorse.

With four dominant group one wins for the season, Typhoon Tracy (215 votes) almost doubled the votes of the runner-up Starspangledbanner (113), who outpolled fellow star 3-year-olds So You Think and Shoot Out.

Typhoon Tracy's selection as champion racehorse for the past season added another highlight to the 2009-10 season for Moody, who won the Melbourne trainer's premiership to break the stranglehold on the title enjoyed by the Hayes and Freedman stables since the mid-1970s.

- AAP