Winter Dreaming of Everest Conquest- Who Can Rise?

My how time flies, 2026 will see the tenth running of the $20million Group I TAB Everest (1200m), which has evolved into the number one sprint race in the country and number one race in Sydney.

With $20million up for grabs, the jockeying to secure the right horse for your slot starts now although many believe the race has a forgone conclusion this year with a likely return for last year’s winner and the best sprinter in the world Ka Ying Rising (NZ).

Ka Ying Rising is a formidable hurdle to overcome, but he is a horse and a horse that lives in Hong Kong, so that adds plenty of variables into the mix

Thoroughbreds can be fragile and anything can happen between now and October, so those seeking to win this year’s Everest need to plan to be there in top form on the day, come what may.

Looking at the past might offer insight into the future.

Everest Top Three - First Run in 2017

Ka Ying Rising will be looking to go back to back and there is a precedent for the feat with inaugural winner Redzel winning the race twice at the same age as Ka Ying Rising, five and six.

Many thoroughbreds hold peak form at that age and given the form of Ka Ying Rising after his Everest win there is every reason to think he can return here even better than last year… a scary prospect for his rivals.

He will fill the HKJC slot and the Godolphin slot will likely also go the same way as last year with Tempted.

The first three year-old filly to place in an Everest when second last year, Tempted rounded out her season with three autumn wins at Randwick, the last of them a dazzling victory in the Group II ATC Arrowfield Sprint when she clocked 1.08.00.

She is clearly the best of the local contenders and with maturity might give the world’s best sprinter a run for his money, if not this year certainly next when she attains full strength and he begins the inevitable downward slide.

A four year-old is yet to win The Everest, so Tempted will be a history maker if she can roll the favourite.

Since the Everest was first run, 14 3YO’s have had a crack with Yes Yes Yes and Giga Kick winning the race, albeit with very different profiles.

Yes Yes Yes won the Group II ATC Todman Stakes, but was only seventh in the Golden Slipper then came back at three to place in the Group II ATC Run to the Rose and Group I ATC Golden Rose before winning his Everest in record time.

Giga Kick was undefeated going in, but had never raced in Sydney and finished his juvenile season with wins at Sale and Flemington before winning the Group III MRC Vain Stakes and Group II VRC Danehill Stakes by short margins.

His trainer Clayton Douglas had a massive throw at the stumps and it paid off in a year when the horses that filled the trifecta the previous year – Nature Strip, Masked Crusader and Eduardo - all lined up but were past their peak.

Three Golden Slipper winners have tried and failed to win the Everest – She Will Reign, Shinzo and Lady of Camelot, while the only other three year-old to place in the race is Growing Empire, who like Giga Kick came via the Melbourne spring carnival.

Chances are if a three year-old is going to be in the mix this year it might be one a little left of centre, maybe a Chayan or a Stretan Ruler.

On the score of sex, just one mare or filly has won The Everest and that was 7YO Bella Nipotina with 29 fillies and mares contesting the race against 78 colts, geldings and stallions.

We are at the beginning of a long and winding road that will end at Randwick on October 17, who will be Everest winner number 10?