Australian racing picks for The Everest at Royal Randwick

If you like playing the races Down Under, you’re going to absolutely love what’s on offer from Australia tonight!

The country’s longest standing racing venue, Royal Randwick in Sydney, is hosting the $15 million (USD $10.7million) The Everest over a distance of 1200m. The incredible prize money on offer makes it Australia’s richest race and the world’s richest race on turf.

The race is a little different than most big Australian races. Similar to the Pegasus World Cup, twelve ‘slots’ are sold for $600,000 each, and then the slot holders either race a horse themselves, or sell the slot to someone who may have a better chance of winning.

The race has only been running since 2017, when Redzel won for jockey Kerrin McEvoy. That same horse returned and won again in 2018, before Yes Yes Yes won last year’s race for jockey Glen Boss and champion trainer Chris Waller.

Waller saddles two runners this year, Australian horse of the year and favorite Nature Strip, and outsider Haut Brion Her.

In fact, not surpisingly it’s an extremely competitive field for The Everest, made up of 7 Group 1 winners which have combined for a total of 17 Group 1 wins.

Here are a couple of picks for a big night at Royal Randwick, including my choice in the feature race!

Randwick Race 7: No. 3 Classique Legend

The son of Not A Single Doubt has been on top of his game this campaign, returning with an impressive win in The Shorts (G2) at Randwick before being unlucky when posted wide and facing the breeze last start in the Premier Stakes (G2) at Randwick, but still managing second.

There is bound to be a hot speed set in this race, and from post position 6, jockey Kerrin McEvoy will be able to take a nice sit and give his horse every chance to unleash his sensational late sprint.

Trainer Les Bridge recently said Classique Legend was the best horse he has ever trained. Considering Mr. Bridge has been training horses for more than half a century, and has won many of Australia’s biggest races including the Melbourne Cup and Golden Slipper, it’s quite the compliment.

The horse was unlucky in last year’s The Everest when finding plenty of traffic, but I think he can make amends for that defeat this year.

If you like playing exotics, I’ll be including Nature Strip, Trekking, and Santa Ana Lane in my exactas and trifectas.

Randwick Race 1: No. 3 Captivant

This race is made up of mostly first time starters, and Captivant has caught the eye for a couple of reasons.

The well-bred son of Capitalist cost $550,000 at the sales, that’s around USD $400,000. He comes from the barn of Paul and Peter Snowden, who have a lot of success with their juvenile horses.

While Captivant hasn’t raced yet, he did have a barrier trial at Royal Randwick last Monday, and won that trial under a strong hold from jockey Kerrin McEvoy. I think he can win on debut at nice odds.

Wishing you the best of luck on one of the biggest night’s of racing from Down Under! I hope you find plenty of winners.