‘It is about the money’: How The Everest brought Gerry and Singo together again

If you want to understand how Gerry Harvey and John Singleton came to be in partnership of Hawaii Five Oh, a live contender for The Everest, it’s probably better not to ask either one. Who knows what’s right and what’s wrong?

For what it’s worth, Singleton reckons he flew in a helicopter one day to the rolling plains of Harvey’s Barramul Stud in the Hunter Valley, while his great mate of more than 50 years opted for a more conservative route: the Holden Commodore.

When they got there, Harvey was telling Singleton about the horses he had on the farm when a young colt caught the legendary advertising guru’s eye. It was the full brother to Libertini, herself a fantastic, yet injury-prone sprinter Harvey and Singleton shared ownership of.

On the spot, Singleton urged Harvey not to sell the colt, where he would have fetched more money than Nathan Cleary or Latrell Mitchell earn in a couple of years of NRL. Before long, Singleton had a half share in the colt ... for $1 million.

“To think I’m wandering around his farm, and we go halves in Hawaii [Five Oh],” Singleton says. “We’ve done everything together. We met in our mid-20s and are now in our mid-100s and we’re still going strong - and I’m still carrying him.”

Singleton can’t stop laughing, and there’s good reason why. For the first time since 2021, the larrikin duo are back in The Everest, worth an eye-watering $20 million at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

The Everest contender Hawaii Five Oh and part-owners Gerry Harvey and John Singleton.Credit: Getty

Their first chance in the race came with Libertini, who ran eighth in 2020, and then in the same position again the following year. Harvey reckons he has been struck down with bad luck after bad luck with one of the best pedigrees in Australian racing ever since.

Libertini died of a heart attack at trackwork in 2022 and her full-sister De An Andretti only won one race despite having the ability of a top liner. Another from the same family, The Motley Fool, was so big her Melbourne trainer Mick Price said he could barely squeeze the horse into a barrier stall.

“It’s the Libertini curse, I call it,” Harvey says.

But what if it were to change with Hawaii Five Oh?

Like his older siblings, the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained stallion doesn’t lack size. He races over at 600kg, one of the biggest horses in training, and Singleton had to push back on subtle attempts to have him gelded earlier in his career. He thought one of the few trainers capable of working Hawaii Five Oh down to a more manageable weight would be Waterhouse, renowned for her strict regimen.

“That mare [Aloha] has thrown big horses and this is the biggest of the lot,” Harvey says. “He’s a monster, and he just stands out.”

So, too, do his owners.

If Racing NSW boss Peter V’landys wanted The Everest to be Australian racing’s best marketing machine, he couldn’t have dreamt about having Harvey and Singleton involved so regularly.

Asked, even after all these years, would winning The Everest top his breeding and racing achievements, Harvey says: “Yep. It would be. I couldn’t possibly think how anyone in the industry still thinks The Everest is a silly idea.

“We had the first $10 million race day at Magic Millions. I’d been trying for 10 years. In the end, we got it - and I thought that’s a moment in racing. We now have a $20 million Everest. The escalation has been huge. People go on it’s not all about money, yes it is. Even if you don’t want it to be, it is.”

Says Singleton: “It’s the biggest thing in Australia. They’ve turned the Melbourne Cup into a weight-for-age invitational for the Europeans. A lot of [those horses] people haven’t heard of and no one bets on. The Everest has been unbelievable. But I would have liked to have won the Melbourne Cup, though.”

Hawaii Five Oh was a $13 chance with Sportsbet on Sunday to win The Everest behind favourite I Wish I Win ($4) and Think About It ($4.40), who just beat Harvey and Singleton’s horse in the Premiere Stakes over a week ago.

It’s been 23 years since Singleton tackled former prime minister Bob Hawke in the mounting yard after Belle Du Jour won the Golden Slipper - and then shouted the Rosehill public bar.

Is it on the cards again after The Everest?

“I’ll shout every second and Gerry will shout the first,” Singleton laughs.

Says Harvey: “Tell him he’s got to pay. But mind you, if he puts the heavy on I might not have any choice. But it’s more enjoyable that we’re both in it together rather than one of us owning it. That’s much better.”

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