Memories of champion Tie The Knot come flooding back as Kingston Charm takes out the Four Pillars in his famous colours

Kingston Charm races in famous colours and she did them proud with an exciting victory in the Four Pillars Midway at Rosehill courtesy of a brilliant ride from Zac Lloyd.

Kingston Charm revived memories of champion Tie The Knot with her upset win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.

Star apprentice Zac Lloyd, wearing the Tait family’s famous colours of red with a white cap that were synonymous with Tie The Knot, guided Kingston Charm to a thrilling win in the $500,000 Four Pillars Midway (1500m).

The John Thompson-trained Kingston Charm is part-owned by James Tait, whose father, Sandy, raced Tie The Knot, one of the most popular champions of the modern era.

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Tie The Knot, trained by the late Guy Walter, won 21 races of his 62 starts, including 13 Group 1 races and more than $6m prizemoney.

The Tait family have also owned the likes of Baguette, Cabochon, Spinning Hill, Wild Irish, and Whisked, the dam of Tie The Knot.

“I’m really happy for these owners,” Thompson said.

“They’re fantastic people, the Tait family, and their famous colours - it’s an honour to have them in the stable.

“They are great for racing and it is good to see them winning these big races.

“To have a horse like Kingston Charm, just coming through the grades, and win a nice race for them is fantastic.”

Kingston Charm ($15), superbly ridden by Lloyd, scored by a half-length from the Richard and Will Freedman-trained duo Piraeus ($7 equal favourite) and Rolling Magic ($11).

It was a blanket finish with only a length separating the top five with Alabama State ($7 equal favourite) and Harlow Mist ($7.50) fourth and fifth respectively.

“Zac got a bit of confidence when he won on her at Hawkesbury last start,” Thompson said.

Tie The Knot with the famous Tait family colours winning the Sydney Cup.

“She’s a tricky horse, you’ve just got to take your medicine early and just hold her up for that last shot at them.

“She only got home in the last centimetre the other day and today was pretty similar. He (Lloyd) is riding super. He’s a brilliant young rider and the world is his oyster.”

Lloyd, 21, wasn’t even born when Tie The Knot was dominating Sydney racing during the late 1990s-early 2000s.

But Sydney’s two-time reigning premier apprentice, who is due out of his time later this month, wore the colours with distinction on Kingston Charm.

“She was fantastic,” Lloyd said. “I came into today with a lot of confidence after the feeling she gave me at Hawkesbury last start.

“I said to the John pre-race, ‘they might be over-exaggerating this coming off the fence, and I think our best option will be just to keep it smooth and up the inside’.

“Obviously with 20 horses in the race, John just gave me one instruction. He said ‘don’t get her out of her comfort zone’.

“That ultimately put me a pair or two further back than I would have liked and there were a lot of horses in front of me but I just went underneath them and she was really brave and good through the line. It’s good when a plan comes off.

“He tried bloody hard. The way he races didn’t suit him because he had to come around them all. In the end of the day I’ve very pleased how he ran.”

It's Kingston Charm's Four Pillars in a thriller, as @ZacLloydx rides a double!@JTRacingRwik | @aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/WYgVtEULhI

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) November 2, 2024

Joao Moreira, rider of Piraeus, thought he had the race won when he raced to the front inside the final 200m.

“He tried very hard,” Moreira said.

“The way he races didn’t suit him because he had to come around them all. In the end of the day I’ve very pleased how he ran.”

Rolling Magic, a stablemate of Piraeus, came close to scoring his fourth successive win.

“This horse has come a long way in a short time,” said jockey Tommy Berry.

“It was a great effort from an outside gate.”

Apprentice Zac Wadick was full of praise for Alabama State’s fourth after enduring a wide run from barrier 18.

“You can’t hide it, he was four wide throughout the trip,” Wadick said.

“He is only a three-year-old who I think will only keep progressing throughout his career. He hasn’t won today but I feel like there are plenty of races in store for him in the future.”

Originally published as Memories of champion Tie The Knot come flooding back as Kingston Charm takes out the Four Pillars in his famous colours