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By Ray Hickson

There was a very easy way for Tom Charlton to forge his career in racing but he’s delighted he chose the hard way.

We know him as the up and coming assistant trainer and racing manager for John O’Shea. To racing folk in England, he’s the son of well renowned trainer Roger Charlton so a path was always there for him to walk if he wanted to.

Tom Charlton is relishing his role in the John O'Shea stable. (Pic: Bradley Photos)

But after an eye-opening trip to Australia in the spring of 2018 with one of his father’s horses the game changed.

“I wasn’t thinking I was going to come forever but I wanted to see more of the country because it had so much to offer,’’ he said.

“I didn’t realise how much healthier it was than English racing.

“In England you can get a job for who you are, not what you are. It’s difficult for the average person to work themselves into a decent role in England. In Australia anyone can do it.”

Charlton, now 26, was one of a big team at his father’s Beckhampton stables working as an assistant alongside his older brother Harry before venturing to Australia.

It’s fair to say that Tom Charlton was born into racing but he’s certainly not part of a racing dynasty.

Roger Charlton ran one of England’s first equine swimming pools at Lambourn, between Newbury and Swindon, when he was headhunted to be assistant trainer to Jeremy Tree in 1978 – well before Tom was born – a role he filled for 12 years before training in his own name in 1990.

So horses have always been part of Tom’s life and another career path wasn’t really considered – unless you call a couple of early teenage years thinking being a jockey was feasible – until he experienced the Australian racing landscape.

In early 2019 Charlton returned to Australia and on the recommendation of a few friends approached John O’Shea looking for work.

At the time O’Shea was in the rebuilding phase of his stable, having been private trainer for Godolphin between 2014 and 2017, and that appealed to Charlton as he liked the idea of being involved in growing a team.

“I knew a couple of people back in England who had worked for John,’’ he said.

“In my travels I met Tom Simpson (equine physio) and all those people spoke very highly of him.

“I liked the way when they spoke that he was very precise and he had attention to detail, which I really enjoy.

“He was starting off again and I thought it was a good opportunity, rather than try to go into a big company I’d try to grow with him as the business got bigger again.”

But he had to start at ground level, work his way up and earn John O’Shea’s trust.

For the first three or four months he was a basic stablehand, that moved into assisting the foreman, which progressed to going to the races and working in a foreman-like capacity.

It took around 12 months or so for Charlton to reach the role he’s in now and O’Shea says it’s been well earned.

“He started at the bottom, which I always like when they’re a bit young, and as we were able to grow we developed a role for him as a racing manager and assistant trainer and it’s all gone from there,’’ O’Shea said.

“I like to have young people around me because they bring enthusiasm and the joys of youth and he’s exceptional in all those areas.”

It’s that injection of youth that Charlton says will stand the O’Shea stable in good stead in the coming years as the trainer’s planning comes to fruition.

He’s seen it in how O’Shea has handled the stable’s star sprinter Lost And Running, who made the leap from an off-season Listed to win a fourth in the TAB Everest and dominant win in The Hunter by the end of the spring.

And he’s already been instrumental in attracting new owners and horses to the team, most notably the high profile UK import Maximal whose run in the Golden Eagle at his local debut suggested he’s going to be a force in 2022.

Tom Charlton has a post-race debrief with jockey James McDonald. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

“John sees, particularly with horses like Lost And Running, 12 months ahead of where they are at,’’ Charlton said.

“A lot of people could have pushed the horse quicker but John was incredibly patient and the rewards have come.

“I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made. Everything has worked out as well as I hoped, but I’m never satisfied really, always wanting more.

“I couldn’t speak higher of John, he really is great to work with. He’s very smart and I learn from him daily.

“John is such a rounded person. He’s smart with the breeding, he’s meticulous with everything he does, so many little fine decisions you can’t really teach, it’s sort of an instinct.”

Charlton has a passion for horses that you also can’t teach.

“I just love the competition, working with the horses, seeing the horses at a young age develop into something.’’ he said.

“I love going to the races on a Carnival Saturday and seeing the finished product. We work some long hours but it’s very rewarding when you see the final product come through on the big stage.”

As it was with his father, when you’re an assistant trainer it’s a springboard to your own training venture.

In Tom Charlton’s case he can see a day when that happens but it’s not any time soon. And if it does you can bet it’ll be in Australia.

“I hate to look too far ahead and overthinking things,’’ he said.

“I’m not in a rush to get training because it’s one of those things you can do for the rest of your life. I’ll know when the right time is, I guess.”

“It’s a big leap and once you take it you’re committed. It’s difficult to come back a peg if you go out training on your own and things don’t work out.

“I find it difficult to believe so many people are still training in England, when I flick through the results, it must be incredibly difficult to have any sort of profitable business unless you are trading horses or are one of the big trainers.”

*This article originally appeared in the February 2022 edition of the Racing NSW magazine

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