Starzintheireyes aiming for Group 2 glory in 2026 Kingston Town Stakes

John O’Shea and Tom Charlton will be without their initial top seed for The Metropolitan, but they are eager to give another member of their team a chance to impress for a start in that race this weekend.

The Randwick training partnership is keen for their untapped import, Starzintheireyes, to gain a start in the $300,000 Group 2 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) on home ground.

The import is yet to achieve a win in four starts in Australia, but was an unlucky second first-up when narrowly defeated by The Mona Lisa, and Charlton is optimistic about his future.

“He’s been unfortunate not to win yet in Australia,” Charlton commented.

“He’s got a load of class and it was a big performance (last start).”

“We’re pretty sweet on him and at some stage the penny will really drop.”

Starzintheireyes, a son of Starspangledbanner, arrived in Australia as a winner of two of his five starts, including the Group 3 Zetland Stakes (2011m) at Newmarket.

The five-year-old had three runs in his first Australian preparation, securing a second placing over 1800m in benchmark 78 grade at Hawkesbury, a third in a BM88 over 2000m at Randwick, and a sixth placing in a 2000m BM100 at Flemington on June 6.

He possesses the second-lowest rating of the 19 entries for the Kingston Town Stakes, which is capped at a field of 14, plus emergencies, but Charlton expects him to outperform his rating if he gets a start.

“If he ran well it could open the door of a Metrop,” he said.

“But he’ll keep improving. He might end up in a nice race.”

The only Kingston Town entry with a lower rating than Starzintheireyes is Aethelwulf – who is the favourite for the $750,000 Group 2 The Metropolitan on October 3 – with entries headed by ATC Australian Derby winner Green Spaces. O’Shea and Charlton also have Athabascan entered.

King Pedro is not nominated after an elevated temperature ended his aspirations for a start in The Metropolitan, having last won the Grafton Cup. However, Charlton remains hopeful of his return to racing at some point this spring.

“We’re assessing him at the moment and perhaps where we can get to, but the Kingston Town is just going to come a little bit too quick,” he stated.

The Kingston Town Stakes is one of four Group 2 races scheduled for this Saturday’s Randwick meeting, which will feature Autumn Glow in the $1 million Seven Stakes (1600m).

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