Three-Year-Old Napoleonic and Co-Trainers Chase Canterbury Stakes Upset at Randwick

Napoleonic will attempt a rare Canterbury Stakes upset when he lines up over 1300 metres at Royal Randwick on March 7 as part of the Sydney Autumn Carnival’s early Group 1 action. Co-trainers John O’Shea and Tom Charlton have pitched the three-year-old into a race that has not been won by a member of his age group in a decade; the last to do it was Holler in 2016, a notable link given O’Shea prepared Holler.

Charlton confirmed Napoleonic comes into the Canterbury Stakes third-up after a decisive Hobartville Stakes second over 1400 metres that shaped the campaign. Napoleonic previously captured the Red Anchor Stakes over 1200 metres at Flemington in the spring, a two-season résumé Charlton says fits the Canterbury pattern: “He’s got good form, he comes into this third‑up and, we feel, ready to run the best race of his preparation, which should put him right among the chances.”

The connections weighed the Randwick Guineas 1600 metres against the Canterbury 1300 metres before settling on the shorter option, a deliberate move following that Hobartville run. Charlton explained their planning: “We always had this race day as a plan, and we were just going to work out whether it was Randwick Guineas or Canterbury Stakes.” He added the distance choice was tactical: “His last run was excellent, but we concluded the best option would be coming back to the 1300, rather than try to stretch him to a Randwick mile.” Charlton believes dropping back from 1400m to 1300m places Napoleonic in the same favourable pattern that carried Holler into the Group 1.

O’Shea and Charlton arrive at Randwick with a strong hand beyond Napoleonic. Linebacker, the 2024 Randwick Guineas winner, is resuming in the Canterbury Stakes as the team’s campaign opener en route to the Doncaster Mile, and Yorkshire, The Ingham winner, also resumes in the same race after recovering from a minor setback that ruled him out of a planned Liverpool City Cup return. Those two older rivals shape the race as a stern test for the trio of three-year-olds.

Napoleonic faces two fellow members of his cohort in the Canterbury field: Beiwacht and Nepotism. The trio represents the only explicit three-year-old entries named in the build-up, underscoring how rare a youthful success would be given the strength of older runners in the line-up.

Charlton also confirmed a late change of plan for juvenile filly Scintillation, who will not tackle the Reisling Stakes 1200 metres at Randwick after drawing awkwardly; instead she will head to Melbourne for the Group 3 Ottawa Stakes over 1000 metres. “She’s going to run in Melbourne. Just the draw was a bit tricky in Sydney on Saturday. She did a good job on debut. She’s a nice, racy filly and hopefully we can get some black type,” Charlton said.

With March 7 set for the Canterbury Stakes at Royal Randwick, Napoleonic’s drop back in trip, his Red Anchor Stakes form, and the O’Shea-Charlton stable strength all conspire to make the three-year-old a compelling outsider in a race that has resisted juvenile winners for ten years.