Unheralded sprinter Eduardo targets Schillaci-Everest double

Speed demon Eduardo will chase a golden ticket into the $14m The Everest through the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield after the Melbourne Racing Club struck a deal with ATC for its slot.

Gilbert Gardiner

@gilbertgardiner

less than 2 min read

July 16, 2019 - 5:27PM

Speed demon Eduardo will forge a path to The Everest through the Group 2 $400,000 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield.

Under the landmark alliance — a potential cease fire in the turf war between Victoria and NSW — announced on Tuesday, the Schillaci winner gets a slot in the $14m The Everest at Royal Randwick on October 19.

Jockey Brian Park, who won the Group 2 Caulfield Sprint on Eduardo for trainer and partner Sarah Zschoke last year, said the unheralded sprinter will target the Schillaci-Everest double.

“If we’ve got a chance to get him in the Everest we’ll have a crack at it, that’s for sure,” Park said. “We’ll have him ready to go for the Schillaci.”

Eduardo will be set for the Schillaci Stakes in a bid to secure a spot in The Everest. Picture: Jay Town

Eduardo, a $51 Everest chance with TAB, has not missed a place in four starts at Caulfield.

He finished third in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) last preparation then failed in the Group 1 Newmarket at Flemington after getting on the wrong leg.

The lightly-raced six-year-old gelding was tipped out after running third at Caulfield last April and pulling up with a virus.

Park said Zschoke had already planned to take Eduardo, who returned to work a fortnight ago, to Sydney in the spring even before the Schillaci-Everest carrot.

“I actually think he would go better Sydney way,” Park said. “I’ve galloped him the Sydney way a few times at Cranbourne and he corners really well, he doesn’t lug out, he corners like a greyhound.”

The chance of the Everest being run on a rain-affected track, as it has done the past two years, is also of no concern to Park. Eduardo is twice a winner in soft and heavy conditions.

“He loves a bog track, the wetter the better for him, he can swim,” Park said. “The Everest is right up his alley.”

THE EVEREST 2019

Slot holders – runners

Aquis — PIERATA

Boniface Ho and Carmel Size Racing – CLASSIQUE LEGEND

TAB – SANTA ANA LANE

Max Whitby and Neil Werrett – SUNLIGHT

Inglis – IN HER TIME

The Star – ARCADIA QUEEN

Yulong Investments – REDZEL

Chris Waller Racing – TBA

Coolmore – TBA