NewsBite

The Everest, Caulfield Cup: Yes Yes Yes wins at Randwick, Mer De Glace claims Group 1 glory

Glen Boss and Yes Yes Yes win the world’s richest turf race, the $14m Everest | WATCH

Brendan Cormick and Tom Crystal
Glen Boss rides Yes Yes Yes to victory in The Everest. Picture: Getty Images
Glen Boss rides Yes Yes Yes to victory in The Everest. Picture: Getty Images
8 min read
6:23PMOctober 19, 2019.
Updated 6:44PMOctober 19, 2019

Welcome to coverage of The Everest and Caulfield Cup. Glen Boss and Yes Yes Yes have won the $14m Everest, the world’s richest turf race. Japanese horse Mer De Glace claimed the $5m Group One Caulfield Cup

• Top story: Three-year-old colt Yes Yes Yes has upstaged his rivals to win The Everest, ahead of Santa Ana Lane and Trekking

Brendan Cormick 5.40pm: Rising stars

Hush Writer, one of five horses Gai Waterhouse bought as a yearling in Japan, has won the St Leger at Randwick to cap a big hour for the Japanese thoroughbreds.

Brendan Cormick 5.30pm: Japan star claims Caulfield crown

Japanese galloper Mer De Glace circled the field, coming from second last to win the $5 million Caulfield Cup.

Winner of five wins in a row coming into the event, Mer De Glace was spotted by Damian Lane, the winning jockey, during a mid-year stint riding over there and he pleaded with the connections to bring the horse down for the 2400m handicap.

“He’s not the best-looking horse but he is such a tradesman,” Lane said.

Mer De Glace defeated Vow And Declare with Mirage Dancer just holding out Constantinople — the eye-catcher from a Melbourne Cup standpoint.

Brendan Cormick 5.15pm: Star pair guide colt to the peak

Big-time players Chris Waller, Glen Boss and an untapped colt set off to climb racing’s peak — and the answer was Yes Yes Yes.

Waller, who resisted the urge to tackle The Everest with Winx, had entered an arrangement with WA owner Bob Peters to fill the stable syndicate’s slot, only to have her fail and be retired a fortnight ago.

Yes Yes Yes, who joined Waller’s team in February after Darren Weir was disqualified, had run a close second in the Golden Rose to Bivouac. The intention was to focus on the Coolmore Stud Stakes on November 2 at Flemington.

But the circumstances prompted a rethink of plans, a reassessment of the colt. He was considered capable of taking on The Everest and still make it to Melbourne.

Jockey Glen Boss celebrates victory aboard Yes Yes Yes. Picture: AAP
Jockey Glen Boss celebrates victory aboard Yes Yes Yes. Picture: AAP

With riders split between chasing the Caulfield Cup or gain a select mount in the $14 million race before 40,000 screaming racegoers at Randwick, Glen Boss was made for what has fast become the biggest stage in NSW racing.

And Boss, 50, was ready to shine.

Yes Yes Yes pocketed $6 million for slot holders and his owners, while his value as a stud proposition quickly leapt to $30 million, give or take $5 million.

A packed house at Randwick cheers the field home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn
A packed house at Randwick cheers the field home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Starting at $9, Yes Yes Yes stole a break inside the 200m mark having followed Classique Legend into the fray and held off a belated charge from Santa Ana Lane ($5.50), beaten a half-length after an interrupted run. Trekking ($31) was close up third.

Boss described it as “an outer-body experience to rival my third Melbourne Cup on Makybe Diva.”

Trainer Chris Waller greets Glen Boss in the mounting yard. Picture: Getty Images
Trainer Chris Waller greets Glen Boss in the mounting yard. Picture: Getty Images

“It was very surreal. I had a plan in my head what I wanted to do and Chris was in my corner,” Boss said.

“I just wanted to be behind the grey horse (Classique Legend), somewhere around Nash (Rawiller). When I asked him, his turn of speed was Group 1 quality — that’s an unbelievable experience.

“He was like a startled gazelle. He was electric. I thought I’d got there too soon, such is the respect I have for the great sprinters in this race. He was strong through the line.”

Waller said the journey Winx took his stable on had prepared him for the high-pressure racing.

“There was so much at risk. You have to go to the owners and say this horse can win The Everest … not run second or third,” he said.

Coolmore Australia’s Tom Magnier applauded the Waller team and Boss for “one of the best days of my life.”

The Everest field is paraded before the feature event. Picture: AAP
The Everest field is paraded before the feature event. Picture: AAP

5pm: It’s official

Yes Yes Yes was followed home by Santa Ana Lane, Trekking and Nature Strip in the Randwick feature. The quinella paid $26.70; the trifecta $1026.60 and first four $14,836.50 according to the NSW TAB.

4.50pm: The Boss shows his class

4.40pm: Emotional win for Chris Waller

4.20pm: Oh Yes, the Boss conquers The Everest

Glen Boss has steered Yes Yes Yes (8.70) to a boilover victory in the world’s richest turf race, ahead of Santa Ana Lane (2.40) and Trekking (6.90), for champion trainer Chris Waller.

Yes Yes Yes kicked clear down the middle of the track to beat Australia’s best sprinters, including runner-up Santa Ana Lane.

Waller had three runners in the sprint.

4.07pm: Will the Queen reign?

4pm: Latest odds

Topweight Santa Ana Lane will start favourite for the big race. Here are the updated NSW TAB odds:

4.60 Santa Ana Lane

5.00 Arcadia Queen

7.00 Pierata

9.00 Yes Yes Yes

10.00 Redzel

11.00 Sunlight

12.00 Alizee

19.00 Classique Legend, Ten Sovereigns

21.00 In Her Time

26.00 Nature Strip

31.00 Trekking

3.55pm: Star power

US singer Kelly Rowland is about to perform for a tense, excited crowd at Randwick. Expectation is building under beautiful blue skies in the Harbour City.

Kelly Rowland poses before her pre-race performance. Picture: AAP
Kelly Rowland poses before her pre-race performance. Picture: AAP

3.50pm: Caulfield Race 7

3.45pm: Redzel aims for a three-peat

Not long to go now until the feature race on the Randwick card. Kerrin McEvoy will be hoping to continue his and Redzel’s dominance in the race, as he takes the reins of the seven-year-old again from barrier seven.

3.30pm: Randwick Race 6

Brendan Cormick 3.20pm: Caulfield Race 6

It is a cardinal sin to work up the hill at Caulfield. Celestial Falls was forced to do so when attacked in the early and middle stages. That she ran third was a commendable performance. Gamay withstood the challenge from the heavily-backed Vegas Jewel after a downpour at Caulfield.

Daniel Sankey 3.10pm: The Everest tip

I will be on Pierata and I think there are only five other winning chances, which are Santa Ana Lane, Redzel, Alizee, Sunlight and Arcadia Queen.

Singer Ricki-Lee Coulter at The Everest race day. Picture: AAP
Singer Ricki-Lee Coulter at The Everest race day. Picture: AAP

3pm: Randwick Race 5

The Kosciuszko (1200m), a $1.3m race for country-trained horses, has been won by Nash Rawiller aboard Handle The Truth. Canberra trainer Keith Dryden was picked by a slot-owner that comprises 27 owners, most of them pensioners according to Dryden.

2.50pm: Feels like Christmas

Brendan Cormick 2.45pm: Caulfield Race 5

Humma Humma settled second last in a small field and after coming widest on the home turn, gobbled up Demerara and Prophet’s Thumb. Miss Iano was terribly unlucky, shut out of an opening half way down the straight when a serious threat.

4.40pm: The Payne gang

Melbourne Cup winning jockey Michelle Payne and brother Stevie — film star and fan favourite — have popped up at Randwick. The film that chronicles Payne’s historic Melbourne Cup win, Ride Like a Girl, which features Stevie Payne, is still showing in cinemas.

Michelle Payne and brother Stevie. Picture: AAP
Michelle Payne and brother Stevie. Picture: AAP

2.25pm: Randwick Race 4

Brendan Cormick 2.10pm: Caulfield Race 4

Thought Of That, a son of So You Think, races into Derby favouritism with an all-the-way victory by a wide margin. Trainer Ciaron Maher declares he can improve on today’s effort. Warning was second ahead of Brilliant Venture.

2pm: Jump start

High jump champion and model Amy Pejkovic has taken time out from training for the Tokyo Olympics to check out some of the equine athletes on show at the track.

Amy Pejkovic at Randwick. Picture: AAP
Amy Pejkovic at Randwick. Picture: AAP

1.50pm: Randwick Race 3

Drama at the barrier as Burning Crown (4.60) and The Drake (15.00) are scratched. Jockey Glen Boss, who will ride Yes Yes Yes in The Everest, looks in some discomfort as he is attended to by medical staff.

Brendan Cormick 1.30pm: Caulfield Race 3

Jockey Mickey Dee makes it a winning double in back-to-back races on Alabama Express who duelled with Hilo up the straight. Heirborn made ground to run third but never threatened the first two placegetters. The winner goes to the Carbine Club Stakes on November 2 at Flemington.

1.20pm: Famous Punter on hand

Former Test skipper Ricky ‘Punter’ Ponting and wife Rianna Cantor are among the crowd that is expected to reach 40,000 today.

Ricky Ponting and wife Rianna. Picture: AAP
Ricky Ponting and wife Rianna. Picture: AAP

Brendan Cormick 12.55pm: Caulfield Race 2

Pretty Brazen drops on the leaders from the rear to win running away and is now headed to Flemington in Cup week. Splendoronthegrass was second while Debt ‘N’ Deficit finished third.

12.35pm: Randwick Race 1

12.30pm: How The Everest will be run, won

Form analyst Mike Wood has mapped out the 1200m race and its runners, offering help for punters on who will go the front early, the horses with the tricky barriers and where the swoopers will come from. Full story here

Spectators enjoy the scene at Randwick. Picture: Getty Images
Spectators enjoy the scene at Randwick. Picture: Getty Images

Brendan Cormick 12.22pm: Caulfield Race 1

Extreme Pride ($6.20) makes it four in a row, scoring from So You Swing ($2) and the tearaway leader Vigere ($4.10) weakens for third. Winning combo trainer Danny O’Brien and Craig Williams are hoping to win the Caulfield Cup later with Vow And Declare.

12pm: Caulfield Cup market

The TAB fixed odds for Melbourne's feature are:

7.00 Finche

8.00 Constantinople

8.50 Mer De Glace, Mr Quickie

9.00 Vow And Declare

14.00 Mustajeer

15.00 The Chosen One

16.00 Mirage Dancer

18.00 Wolfe

19.00 Hartnell

21.00 Prince Of Arran, Rostropovich

26.00 Brimham Rocks, Gold Mount

34.00 Big Duke, Qafila

41.00 Crown Prosecutor, Red Verdon

51.00 Angel Of Truth, True Self

81.00 Neufbosc

101.00 Sound

The scene at Caulfield racecourse. Picture: AAP
The scene at Caulfield racecourse. Picture: AAP

11.30am: Early Everest market

The TAB fixed odds for The Everest are shaping this way:

4.60 Arcadia Queen, Santa Ana Lane

6.50 Pierata

9.50 Redzel, Yes Yes Yes

13.00 Alizee

14.00 Sunlight

18.00 Classique Legend

19.00 In Her Time

21.00 Ten Sovereigns

26.00 Brutal (Emergency), Nature Strip, Trekking

81.00 Home Of The Brave (Emergency)

126.00 Brave Song (Emergency), Champagne Cuddles (Emergency)

11am: Randwick track looks a treat

An introduction to The Everest

What is it?

* A $14 million race over 1200m at weight-for-age offering a $6.05 million first-place prize purse, down to $400,000 for seventh to 12th

* A dozen slots are sold at $600,000 a year with buyers committing for three years but able to sell, lease or joint-venture

How did it come about?

* An idea by Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’landys modelled on the Pegasus World Cup (1800m), run for the first time in Florida in January, 2017

Who owns a slot?

* Bo Ho & Carmel Size Racing, Aquis Farm, Yu Long Investments, Inglis, Coolmore, Godolphin, The Star Casino, Tabcorp, Melbourne Racing Club, Max Whitby Syndicate, James Harron Bloodstock and Chris Waller Racing

Who will race?

* Classique Legend, Pierata, Redzel, In Her Time, Ten Sovereigns, Alizee, Arcadia Queen, Santa Ana Lane, Trekking, Sunlight, Nature Strip and Yes Yes Yes

Is it the richest horse race in the world?

* No. But it’s billed as the world’s richest race on turf, with the Dubai World Cup and Pegasus ($US12m, $US9m) both run on dirt. The Melbourne Cup is worth $8 million

Trophy

* The $625,000 trophy features 8463 black diamonds, 592 white diamonds and two rubies.

Entertainment

* US pop diva Kelly Rowland will perform a 45-minute concert after the last race

* Live DJs will perform at the new Palm Springs-inspired precinct Pony Palms.

— AAP

Lane way to Everest victory

They are the blue-blood group epitomising the Melbourne establishment, descending en masse on Royal Randwick on Saturday with plans to steal Sydney’s new, ­glittering, racing crown jewel, The Everest. Full story here

Syndicate members Michael Clemenger and Rob Clements. Picture: David Geraghty
Syndicate members Michael Clemenger and Rob Clements. Picture: David Geraghty

$100m windfall blows in from Everest

The Everest is set to inject about $100m into the NSW economy through consumer spending, prizemoney, ticket sales, hotel room rates, sponsorship, betting, broadcast fees and corporate hospital­ity. Full story here

Youngest race has ‘old has-been’ dreaming

Winning the Everest ‘might make me feel like less of an old has-been,’ says trainer Les Bridge, 81. Full story here

Les Bridge, at his stables in Randwick, hopes Classique Legend will add The Everest to a list of wins that includes the 1987 Melbourne Cup. Picture: Adam Yip
Les Bridge, at his stables in Randwick, hopes Classique Legend will add The Everest to a list of wins that includes the 1987 Melbourne Cup. Picture: Adam Yip

Queen eyes turf summit

If enthusiasm is any guide, punters can be grateful that James McDonald is riding Arcadia Queen in today’s Sydney feature and not his owner or trainer. Full story here

Training ace relaxed in post-Winx era

Chris Waller will watch The Everest on TV. Alone. Just like he did with Winx. While the racing fraternity gets into a lather about the race, Waller will find a screen that will allow him to watch his runners without interference from three different sets of owners. Full story here

Quickie flies flag for local hopes in a wide open Cup

When it comes to the Caulfield Cup there’s only one true Victorian galloper and that’s Mr Quickie according to his managing owner Wylie Dalziel. Full story here

Mr Quickie after winning at Mornington in March. Picture: Getty Images
Mr Quickie after winning at Mornington in March. Picture: Getty Images

McEvoy chooses loyalty over Legend

Cathy McEvoy has revealed the torture her husband Kerrin went through a month ago before deciding to lock in Redzel as his ride for the $14m The Everest. Full story here

Cathy McEvoy, wife of Redzel’s jockey Kerrin, at Centennial Park in Sydney this week with her ponies Arrow and Fox. Picture: Adam Yip
Cathy McEvoy, wife of Redzel’s jockey Kerrin, at Centennial Park in Sydney this week with her ponies Arrow and Fox. Picture: Adam Yip

Additional reporting: Agencies

Add your comment to this story

To join the conversation, please Don't have an account? Register

Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/horse-racing/the-everest-caulfield-cup-live-field-news-latest-odds/news-story/2e5ddeeb4ca6abace46ad8827bcc0d20