Turf course extremely soft for Everest

When Australian racing authorities brainstormed the name the Everest for the pay-to-play 1,200-meter sprint race at Royal Randwick that would offer a massive purse, they surely didn’t have in mind the radical weather conditions often found on the mountain of the same name.

But the way things are trending, the second edition of the Everest, on Saturday at the Sydney-area racecourse, will be very much affected by weather.

The region as of Wednesday was locked between two powerful low-pressure fronts. Lots of rain already had fallen and lots more is forecast before the Everest goes to post. As of Wednesday, the Royal Randwick course was designated Heavy 8, the eighth-softest condition on the 10-level Australian scale. And things could get softer still by race time.

Twelve will start in the Everest, run around one bend with a fairly sharp turn into the homestretch. As with the Pegasus World Cup, starting slots in the race were purchased (at a cost of about $425,000 U.S. ) and help fund the $9.24 million purse. Post time for the Everest, the seventh of 10 races on a multi-stakes card, is 1:15 a.m. Eastern on Friday night.

Osborne Bulls already has drawn into the field from an also-eligible list that includes five more alternates should anyone else come out.

Drawn favorably on the rail and likely to lead is Redzel, who already ranked as an elite Aussie sprinter before winning the inaugural Everest a year ago. Redzel has performed adequately on going with some give but would be questionable to reach his best form on truly heavy going, and on the surface, at least, he does not appear quite the same horse he was a year ago. Clearly the Everest has been his major goal, but Redzel could finish only fifth Sept. 29 at Royal Randwick in his Everest prep, the Premiere Stakes.

Victorious in the Premiere and a major player Saturday is Santa Ana Lane, who drew post 9 and will try to drop in for some position around the turn before coming with his trademark late run. Santa Ana Lane has positive experience on rain-soaked courses, including a Group 1 win in June over a course rated Heavy 8.

Also very live is the 6-year-old mare In Her Time, who stalked the pace in the Premiere and finished solidly for a close third. That was In Her Time’s first start in five months and ought to have her moving forward into the Everest over a Royal Randwick course that has suited her in the past. In Her Time also has turned in representative performances on heavy going.

Four-year-old filly Shoals was second in the Premiere and a Group 1 winner at 1,200 meters over Soft 5 going in May. Unlikely to care for the wet course is Irish invader U S Navy Flag, who won the Group 1 July Cup over “good” ground at Newmarket in his most recent start but was well below his form racing on heavy ground this past April, his most recent start on a testing course.