Time to turn on Charm in Robert Sangster Stakes 2025
After a lengthy break, Charm Stone will resume in Saturday’s Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville, with her trainers hopeful she can return to the winner’s circle in Group 1 company.
Her last race was a second-place effort on the Gold Coast in January, and she now heads to Adelaide for the first time, targeting one of the country’s premier sprints for fillies and mares.
Charm Stone hasn’t claimed victory since the Atlantic Jewel Stakes (1200m) in September last year. A fifth-place finish in the 2023 Golden Rose (1400m) was followed by a discovered bone chip, which led to surgery and a lengthy layoff.
She returned in the spring with a third-place effort at Flemington and later competed in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m), where she ran midfield.
Trainer Mick Price says she’s come back well and deserves her place in the Robert Sangster field.
“She’s going super,” Price said. “It’s been a bit of a goal for Shamus (Mills) to run in the Group 1 and I’m expecting she’ll go well.”
Mark Zahra rides Charm Stone as he looks to break through in the Sangster after finishing fifth in the race last year.
Stablemate Reserve Bank will also make the trip to Adelaide for the Group 2 Tobin Bronze Stakes (1200m) after winning the Redelva Stakes (1100m) last time out.
Before that, he placed sixth in the William Reid Stakes (1200m), and Price believes the colt is finding his groove.
“He’s going to go back over,” Price said. “It takes some of them time to get going, but he’s hitting his stride now.”
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