Charlton In No Hurry With Test

Roger Charlton is hoping for a dry summer so his Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) can fulfill the potential his trainer believes has yet to be fully tapped. The 4-year-old has at times looked spectacular, but for different reasons, when tried in top company, he has yet to deliver. “He's basically a mile-and-a-quarter horse, which we saw at Ascot, and he wants fast ground,” Charlton said. Time Test shot to prominence with a smooth win in the G3 Tercentenary S. at Royal Ascot and backed that up with another good display in the G2 Shadwell Joel S. at Newmarket. However he came up short both times in Group 1 company, finishing a never dangerous fourth behind Arabian Queen (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the Juddmonte International at York before rounding out the year with a tail end finish in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile at Keeneland. Charlton is keen to forgive Time Test those two top level efforts and said, “In the Breeders' Cup, the ground was horrible, and we had a wide draw and York was a messy race as we all know. We will take our time and make a decision where he runs nearer the time, but he's in good form, so we're happy.” Ideally Charlton would like to end up back at Royal Ascot in June with Khalid Abdullah's homebred and added, “I guess the Prince of Wales's S. would hopefully be a race that will suit him. The owner has other good horses though, so we'll see.”