A fascinating week in Sydney ahead of the inaugural The Everest came to it’s conclusion this weekend and the result was a superb win for Redzel, who raced in the James Harron Bloodstock slot after a partnership was formed with Triple Crown for the race.
Since the announcement of the race and since JHB secured a slot we have had a very close eye on Redzel, who returned this preparation with impressive wins in lightning-quick times in both the Group 2 The Shorts and the Group 2 Premiere Stakes under the expert tutelage of Peter and Paul Snowden. Once it became clear that there wasn’t going to be a JHB horse for the slot we moved quickly to attempt to secure Redzel.
The event itself was a textbook display of tactical sustained speed from Redzel under an inspired Kerrin McEvoy, travelling in front and kicking clear in the straight for an impressive victory against one of the very best fields of sprinters ever assembled in Australia.
In a wider sense The Everest was a sensational day. The crowd was enormous, and very pleasingly there was a huge number of young people getting a great first experience of the races. The lead up to the day was, quite literally, the talk of the town, and all anybody wanted to talk about was The Everest which speaks volumes for the success of the project. There was great camaraderie between slot holders and everyone in the industry in the lead up, which really added to the whole experience.
Attendance on the day at Randwick was well over 30,000, which is a record since the course underwent redevelopment, with the all-important betting turnover also exceptional, the highest TAB betting turnover in NSW on any day outside Melbourne Cup day and the highest turnover on a single race ever outside of the Melbourne Cup. When you consider that this is comparing a race first run in 1861 vs the first running of a new race those are extraordinary figures. Also impressive was how all this translated to the all-important and intangible quality of ‘atmosphere’ and a great roar when the gates opened!
Big thanks and congratulations on that front have to go to Racing NSW’s Peter V’Landys, who has done great things for Sydney racing, and having a spearhead like that as the driving force behind The Everest, alongside Australian Turf Club CEO Darren Pearce, Chairman Lauri Macri and their fantastic team led to a spectacular event.
The final and most important congratulations goes to the great group of owners who got behind this project and put their faith and investment in the JHB Everest slot – Belinda Bateman, Fergus & Delia Doyle, Donna & Rob Love, Phil & Glenda Mehrten, John & Fran Ingham, Gary Diamond and Danny & Pauline Saab.