Race is on for the summit of Everest
THE wait is finally over and it will all come down to less than 70 frenetic seconds at Royal Randwick today.
At 3.15pm today, the gates will spring open for the $13 million The Everest – and the race is on.
Months of pressure, hype and controversy has captured the imagination and interest of horse racing fans around the world.
Before an expected crowd of more than 40,000 at Royal Randwick, The Everest’s field of 12 outstanding sprinters will compete in the world’s richest turf race. This race is so even, finding the favourite is proving as challenging as backing the winner with The Everest betting market changing constantly.
Defending champ Redzel was the $6.50 favourite alongside Shoals.
Vega Magic has shared race favouritism for the last two weeks but uncertainty about his ability to cope with a heavy track has resulted in the gelding drifting to $8.
The big drifter is In Her Time who has eased to $14.
The brilliant Newcastle mare has been challenging for Everest favouritism since her mighty first-up in the Premiere Stakes when she ran the closest of thirds to Santa Ana Lane and Shoals until she eased dramatically in betting yesterday.
But the topsy-turvy Everest betting market is another indication of how competitive this race is with the rank outsiders being Le Romain, Graff and Osborne Bulls.
Viddora, the Victorian mare who has drawn the widest barrier in the 12-horse field, is one of The Everest “outsiders” at $16 but it wouldn’t be a shock if she won the big race.
“Has anyone seen a sprint race this good where it is possibly going to end up being 10-1 the field?” Lloyd Kennewell, trainer of Viddora, said.
“There looks to be great speed in the race, which is probably a real positive for us, and we have got one of the horses going in with red-hot form.”
Royal Randwick’s track was rated a heavy 9 last night with Racing NSW chief steward Marc Van Gestel declaring The Everest meeting will definitely go ahead today on a “safe but heavy surface”.