Veteran trainer Roger Charlton has been
based at historic Beckhampton Stables, near Marlborough, Wiltshire
since 1978. Initially employed as assistant trainer to Jeremy Tree,
Charlton spent 12 years in that role before finally taking charge of
the yard in 1990, after his predecessor was forced to retire, due to
ill-health, at the end of the 1989 season.
Remarkably, in his first season in
charge, Charlton saddled Sanglamore, owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah,
to win the Prix du Jockey Club, otherwise known as the ‘French
Derby’, at Chantilly and, three days later, saddled Quest For Fame,
in the same ownership, to win the Derby at Epsom. Of course, winning
two of the most prestigious and valuable races in Europe within the
space of 72 hours can hardly be described as a ‘flash in the pan’
but, subsequently, in the best part of three decades, Charlton has
yet to train another Classic winner.
He does, however, have no fewer than 17
Group One victories to his name. Aside from Sanglamore, who also won
the Prix d’Isphan, back at Chantilly, as a four-year-old in 1991,
other notable achievements in the first half of his career included
winning the Sprint Cup at Haydock twice, with Tamarisk in 1998 and
Tante Rose in 2004, and Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp twice, with
Patavellian in 2003 and Avonbridge in 2005.
More recently, in 2013, Al Kazeem flew
the flag for the yard, winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the
Curragh, Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot and Coral-Eclipse
at Sandown on successive starts. Indeed, the Dubawi colt proved he
was no back number when winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup again, as a
seven-year-old, in 2015. More recently still, in 2017, Decorated
Knight had an equally productive campaign, winning the Jebel Hatta at
Meydan, Tattersalls Gold Cup and Irish Champion Stakes at
Leopardstown.
Listed and Pattern races aside,
Charlton also has an enviable record in so-called ‘heritage’
handicaps, including the Stewards’ Cup and the Totesport Mile, both
at Goodwood, which he has won three times apiece. He was also won the
Cambridgeshire and the Bunbury Cup, both at Newmarket, twice, and the
King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot twice, among other high-profile
successes.
