Melbourne Cup the target after favourite does it in style

Beckhampton trainer Charlton was at Newmarket, where he told Press Association Sport: Charlton said: “The form of the Cesarewitch was well franked. Those first four or five horses have all run well, so the form was very solid.

“I guess in hindsight the handicapper could have put him up a little bit more. He will obviously go up another 10lb or so, I guess, but he is a nice horse.

“Watching him round there, it looked like he was going quite slowly, but he has got a good cruising speed and is a very straightforward, nice horse.

“We were always going to be in the first three and we thought one of Mark Johnston’s would go forward, but they never had the chance to get there, so Robert just kept it simple and he was never really that hard on him to do it.

“All the horses have been slow to come to hand. Out of our last six runners, five have won but before that we were all over the shop and had more lasts than firsts.

“The weather and bad scopes have been a problem, which included Withhold, as he wasn’t quite right. We’ve had to be patient, but patience pays off.

“He has been working with Second Step, who is rated 110. His form, I guess, was above his rating.”

Looking to the future, Charlton said: “I’ve got to check the conditions of getting into the Melbourne Cup, but that is the long-term aim.

“Depending on what we need to do to qualify, he will probably do the minimum before we go to Australia. I’m not going to run him all summer, as the target is the Melbourne Cup.”