A wet Sydney’s Royal Randwick hosts the world’s richest race on turf on Saturday.
History will be made as twelve of the fastest horses compete for A$15 million in front of 10 000 vaccinated spectators.
And two weeks later the world’s best four-year-old’s do battle in the third running of the $7,5m The Golden Eagle at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday, 30 October.
Home Affairs (I Am Invincible x Miss Interiors) – Coolmore aims for a big double on Saturday
(Pic- Coolmore)
Set across both Royal Randwick & Rosehill Gardens, the Everest Carnival hosts a stellar eight weeks of world-class racing from September to November.
Coolmore is hoping lightning can strike twice in the TAB Everest with three-year-old Home Affairs given the job of repeating the 2019 victory of Yes Yes Yes in Saturday’s $15m classic.
Glen Boss will ride and Chris Waller trains the colt – it all sounds so familiar.
The colt’s selection so close to the race in some way mirrors the successful Yes Yes Yes formula and Coolmore Australia Principal Tom Magnier said Home Affairs has shown more than enough talent to earn the slot.
Home Affairs won the Silver Slipper as a two-year-old and returned this spring with an easy all the way win in the Listed Heritage Stakes (1100m) last month and matched motors with stablemate Nature Strip in an exhibition gallop that appears to have sealed his place.
“Chris and his team have done an unbelievable job with this horse,’’ Magnier said.
“He was a good two-year-old and he’s come out at three and really filled into himself. He showed that on the racetrack the other day and when he trialled with effectively the best sprinter in the world.
“We’ve had Yes Yes Yes as a three-year-old in the Everest with Chris and Glen Boss so really we’re just trying to repeat the formula that worked.”
Flashback: Yes Yes Yes (Rubick x Sin Sin Sin) wins the 2019 The Everest (Pic- Coolmore)
Home Affairs will be the second Coolmore representative to carry the navy colours in the TAB Everest and the second three-year-old after Tulip finished fifth in the inaugural running in 2017.
Yes Yes Yes is the only three-year-old so far to win the TAB Everest – he was successful in 2019 in the Chris Waller Racing slot as Coolmore imported Aidan O’Brien’s Group 1 winning colt Ten Sovereigns to be its representative.
While Santa Ana Lane ran in the Coolmore slot last year it is normally reserved for a horse, preferably a colt, from their own stock and Home Affairs fits that bill perfectly.
“We have a slot and a couple of good colts so we were just trying to buy our time and wait and see which was the right one,’’ Magnier said.
“He’s gone to that next level which we were hoping he would. We’ve been looking at him as our Everest horse for quite a while.
“We have a really exciting sprinter on our hands. I know it is a big ask for a three-year-old to come up against the best sprinters in the world but Chris has faith in the horse and we just need a bit of luck on the day.”
Home Affairs won the Gr2 Silver Slipper earlier this year on a soft 7 track and the weather forecast is the only thing concerning Magnier.
“Hopefully we don’t get too much rain. We’re in there now, we’re delighted to be a part of it,’’ he said.
Fancied runners Classique Legend and Masked Crusader will be pleased with their barriers ahead of this Saturday’s The Everest at Randwick, while Nature Strip jockey James McDonald will have a decision to make after being drawn out wide.
The Chris Waller runner likes to sit on the speed but will have its work cut out to get across from barrier 10, though Eduardo in barrier seven could give Nature Strip something to follow to the rail.
2020 winner Classique Legend, attempting to win the race first up, has drawn barrier five, while Masked Crusader will start in gate nine.
Gytrash has drawn the rails, while The Inferno has been given the widest barrier.
Barrier draws for Saturday:
Barrier Horse (Jockey/Trainer)
1 Gytrash (Jason Collett/Richards & Moyle)
2 Lost And Running (Hugh Bowman/John O’Shea)
3 Embracer (Jean Van Overmeire/Waterhouse & Bott)
4 Trekking (Josh Parr/James Cummings)
5 Classique Legend (Kerrin McEvoy/Les Bridge)
6 Home Affairs (Glen Boss/Chris Waller)
7 Eduardo (Nash Rawiller/Joseph Pride)
8 Libertini (Sam Clipperton/Anthony Cummings)
9 Masked Crusader (Tommy Berry/Hawkes)
10 Nature Strip (James McDonald/Chris Waller)
11 Wild Ruler (Tim Clark/P & P Snowden)
12 The Inferno (Regan Bayliss/Cliff Brown)
In the first four runnings of the race, the winners came from the following barriers:
2017 – Redzel (4)
2018 – Redzel (1)
2019 – Yes Yes Yes (9)
2020 – Classique Legend (6)
The total prizemoney for The Everest is A$15 million, making it the world’s richest race on turf.
The winner will take home A$6.2 million.
Prizemoney breakdown:
1st A$6,2 million
2nd A$2,3 million
3rd A$1,4 million
4th A$1 million
5th A$750 000
6th A$500 000
7th A$450 000
8th A$450 000
9th A$450 000
10th A$450 000
11th A$450,000
12th A$450,000
