In my new role as announcer at Los Alamitos Race Course, I marvel at the raw speed of Quarter Horses. The Thoroughbred equivalent will be on display at Randwick this Friday night, as Australia's elite sprinters contest the fourth running of The Everest. The world's richest turf race carries a purse of AU$15 million (US$10.8 million) and is part of a recently introduced Pick 7 wager that can be played for just 20c per combination and has a $10,000 pool guarantee this Friday night.
Although the two-mile Melbourne Cup is the nation's most famous race, Australia's forté is actually producing the world's best turf sprinters. While American fans are dubious of anything unproven on U.S. soil, the Breeders' Cup is poorly timed from the standpoint of Australia's rich “Spring Carnival.” However, Aussie sprinters have succeeded in other global arenas such as Royal Ascot, Dubai and Hong Kong. The Everest, at six furlongs, is framed around the concept of slot holders seeking deals with connections of the best available horses. In a flashy display of innovation and savvy marketing, the race that sports the name of the world's highest peak had its post position draw conducted on the glass-bottomed Sky Deck at the top of Sydney Tower (which dwarfs Seattle's Space Needle but is slightly smaller than America's tallest observation tower, the Stratosphere in Las Vegas).
Just as the Sydney Tower has a revolving restaurant, the race itself revolves around Nature Strip (7-2 equal favorite). Recently crowned Australian Horse of the Year for a trio of Group 1 wins in 2019/20, Nature Strip is currently tied for sixth in the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings (with Almond Eye, Authentic, and Enable). However, Nature Strip's stock has slumped with two losses to begin his 6-year-old season.
As short as 3-2 in Future Book wagering for The Everest a month ago, the gelding exited his most recent defeat with mucus in his trachea. That followed his well publicized dumping of jockey James McDonald at the start of a training race, requiring a subsequent trial to the stewards' satisfaction. Nature Strip retains the confidence of both McDonald, who declares his coat “is definitely looking a bit better,” and trainer Chris Waller, whose vet is “very happy with his blood levels.”
Post positions are potentially important, as the best trip could well decide the outcome among so many top-caliber sprinters. Fortune has smiled upon Nature Strip, Classique Legend (7-2 equal favorite) and Gytrash (6-1), who have drawn adjacent gates in the middle of the field. However, the task of brilliant last-start winner Libertini (8-1) was complicated when the mare drew the extreme outside. Classique Legend was an untapped talent when an unlucky sixth in The Everest last year. More recently, the gray unleashed an electrifying burst to win off a layoff, then was trapped wide without cover when a creditable second.
Classique Legend is conditioned by 82-year-old Les Bridge, who hopes to cap a Melbourne Cup-winning career with a victory by what he considers the best horse he's trained. Adelaide-based Gytrash (pronounced gee-trah) has a 92-year-old part-owner named Valerie Gordon, who has been a racing fan for 84 years. Valerie would spend her share of one of the world's biggest purses “getting the house painted and getting a new bed … and I might get another horse.” Gytrash has been Australia's most consistent topline sprinter of the past twelve months, and won his prep race for The Everest at first asking the reverse way of going (right-handed).
Next in the betting is a massive equine specimen sporting an appropriate name. Behemoth (9-1) is one of horse racing's all-time bargain buys: the winner of $1.6 million was purchased as a yearling for a paltry $6,000. (Incongruously, he cost $120,000 a year earlier as a weanling!) Behemoth has won consecutive Group 1s in Melbourne at seven furlongs, but was unplaced in his only two Sydney races in the opposite (clockwise) direction.
In Behemoth's case, an inside gate (2) might not make for the most comfortable transit, and the distance cutback to six furlongs perhaps makes him worth risking when framing Pick-7 tickets. At longer odds, Trekking (16-1) holds appeal: the Godolphin sprinter, who finished third in this race last year, might appreciate being kept a bit fresher leading into the 2020 renewal … and would certainly be an aptly named winner of The Everest.
Here is a suggested ticket for the 20c Pick-7, which spans the final seven races on Friday's card:
Race 4 – # 1, 9
Race 5 – # 1, 5, 14
Race 6 – # 1, 4
Race 7 – # 1, 2, 3, 7
Race 8 – # 2
Race 9 – # 2, 3, 7, 10
Race 10 – # 1, 6
Total cost: $76.80
The Pick 7 wager is available via all major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpires, Xpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWager, HPIbet, AmWager, and BetAmerica. The Randwick card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night with live crosses to Sky Racing World's Jason Witham trackside (First Post: 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT) . All races will also be live-streamed in HD with past performances available for free at skyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms.
A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael's vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.
The post Australia: The World’s Best Turf Sprinters Ready For The Everest appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
