Pierata in Everest contention
Pierata has already won one of Australia's richest races and on Saturday put himself in line to chase the biggest prize of them all after holding off Kementari to win the Group 2 Missile Stakes at Randwick.
The Magic Millions Guineas winner in January had been spoken of as a contender for A$13 million Everest in October and he did his chances of picking up a slot no harm with his narrow victory.
Pierata was first-up on Saturday since being runner-up in the
G1 Randwick
Guineas behind Kementari but he turned that result around after racing clear.
Kementari, who has also attracted a deal of Everest interest, was unlucky not to have won as he took time to get clear of the pack. The Godolphin horse rattled home late but missed by a few centimetres.
Ridden by James McDonald, Pierata started at $4.40 while Kementari was the favourite at $2.40. The Monstar ($18) was third.
Earlier this week, Everest slot holder Max Whitby was forced to look for another runner after his initial selection Menari broke down.
Whitby has been vocal in his respect of Pierata.
Only an hour after orchestrating Kementari's defeat, McDonald was back in favour with Godolphin thanks to his winning ride aboard Soothing, who destroyed her rivals by five lengths over 1000m.
It was the jockey's first ride for the 'blue army' since he was dumped as their retained rider after incurring an 18-month ban in November 2016 for a betting offence involving Godolphin colt Astern.