Royal shake-up: King Charles mile tweak

The King Charles III Stakes will be the first true mile race at Randwick this century after nine metres was added to the race distance giving three and four-year-olds an added advantage under the weight-for-age conditions.

Racing NSW opted to extend the trip a couple of weeks ago, and it means three-year-olds will carry a kilogram less and four-year-olds will get a half-kilogram off.

Bjorn Baker is ready to take advantage of the situation by entering Flight Stakes runner-up Within The Law for the King Charles.

“It makes a big difference to Within The Law to have another kilogram from those proven older milers,” Baker said. “We haven’t decided yet if we will run her yet, but she will only have 49kg if she runs.”

The weight-for-age scale changes on 200m increments, so 1600m is in a different category to 1609m. It works in the Cox Plate’s favour also because it is 2040m instead of 2000m, giving three-year-olds a bigger advantage at Moonee Valley.

The King Charles, when it was known as the George Main Stakes and run in mid-September, was a great race for three-year-olds because of the advantage they got under the weight-for-age scale. It was lost when it was moved back to October a couple of years ago.

In the 1990s, horses of the ilk of Coronation Day, March Hare & Dracula won the Group 1 mile with Shogun Lodge and Viscount also winning as three-year-olds.

The nominations have been extended for the King Charles with 13 entries, including Pride Of Jenni and the past two winners, Ceolwulf and Fangirl. It will be interesting to see if any more three-year-olds will take up the challenge.