Aussie racing scales new heights

When Sir Edmund Hillary conquered the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, he laconically remarked to his expedition colleague George Lowe: “Well, George, we knocked the bastard off.” In the same understated way, the organisers of today’s $10 million The Everest horse race in Sydney — the richest turf race in the world — have overcome considerable odds to pull off one of the great coups in world racing.

Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys, chairman Russell Balding and former chairman John Messara are to be congratulated for giving Australian racing a much-needed fillip by aiming high with this unique concept.

As the name suggests, V’landys and co have had a mountain to climb as parochialism and rivalries threatened to hobble the event before it even got off the ground. Victorian racing officials are said to have been concerned about the impact of such an event clashing with the official start of their Spring Carnival with today’s Group 1 Caulfield Guineas. However, they should look at the bigger picture with a race that once more spotlights the sport of kings. The Everest may not yet be the race that stops a nation, as the first Tuesday in November does. But arguably it has attracted the strongest field of sprinters assembled in Sydney.

Yet, strangely, it does not have Group 1 status as it does not comply with racing rules that stipulate a race has to have been held for at least three years to attain Group 1 eligibility. Such a rule seems arcane.

However, punters have already voted with their wallets: betting pools for The Everest are greater than all the money being held so far for today’s Guineas, next week’s Caulfield Cup and the Melbourne Cup.