2024 The Everest success spurs plans for new Randwick feature race meeting to coincide with Thousand Guineas at Caulfield

Formative discussions have already been held about the possibility of another feature race meeting at Royal Randwick in November next year, a week after Rosehill’s Five Diamonds race day.

Sydney racing officials are looking to capitalise on the sport’s boom times during spring with the potential to include another feature race meeting at Royal Randwick next year.

But what that race day looks like and whether it might include another Everest-like slot race is still to be determined.

The Everest at Royal Randwick last Saturday was a sellout for the first time, attracting a modern-day record crowd of 49,117.

With racing now the hottest ticket in town during spring, inevitably this has led to speculation of further enhancements to Sydney’s spring racing carnival.

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It is understood formative discussions have already been held about the possibility of another feature race meeting at Royal Randwick in November next year, a week after Rosehill’s Five Diamonds race day.

This would necessitate the successful provincial stand-alone race meetings at The Hunter in Newcastle and The Gong at Kembla Grange both being pushed back a week respectively during November to accommodate the additional Randwick meeting.

It can be revealed there has been some thought to introduce another slot-race in spring given the runaway success of The Everest but it is only a talking point.

What is more likely is another big-money race meeting at Royal Randwick in mid-November, coinciding with the Group 1 Thousand Guineas at Caulfield.

49,117 people singing Sweet Caroline.

You love to see it 💚@tabcomau | @SkyRacingAU | @racing_nsw | @7horseracingpic.twitter.com/LP0keERkrn

— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) October 19, 2024

• RICHARD CALLANDER: C’mon Tony, what did you think was going to happen?

There is no decision on what distance the proposed new feature Randwick race will be run over but it seems around 1400m-1600m is the sweet spot.

This is the distance range that caters for those horses going to races like The Hunter and especially The Gong and the Group 2 $2 million The Ingham held over the Randwick 1600m course in early December.

Racing NSW is continually looking at ways to improve the spring carnival, particularly as the return on investment is much lower in autumn.

Although the racing calendar through October and November is already very crowded, the demand is there for spring carnival racing in Sydney.

Just a few of our favs 📸 from TAB Everest Day! @tabcomau | @SkyRacingAU | @racing_nsw | @7horseracingpic.twitter.com/IccAAHxpCW

— Australian Turf Club (@aus_turf_club) October 21, 2024

• I Wish I Win spelled after The Everest flop

The Everest, which has revitalised Sydney’s spring racing program, was designed to exploit the “clear air” on the sporting landscape post-NRL and AFL seasons, and before Test cricket in summer.

Introduced in 2017, The Everest, which was given Group 1 status this year, has quickly established itself as the nation’s premier sprint race and regularly rates among the world’s best races.

On the back of The Everest’s success, a raft of new big-money races have been introduced to the Sydney spring carnival including the $10 million Golden Eagle, $5 million King Charles III Stakes and the $3 million Big Dance.

Originally published as 2024 The Everest success spurs plans for new Randwick feature race meeting to coincide with Thousand Guineas at Caulfield