Australia: Nash Rawiller has banner year; Everest picture sharpens

The Everest carnival enters its fourth week, with five stakes races worth $2.9 million this Friday night at Sydney’s Rosehill Racecourse. A staggering total of $55.6 million will be distributed over the nine weekends of the Everest carnival. The $12.8 million showpiece event will take place next week, as elite sprinters contest the world’s richest race on turf. The Everest card on October 13 will also feature the inaugural King Charles III Stakes, worth $3.2 million. The Everest carnival continues through November 3’s running of the $6.4 million Golden Eagle, restricted to 4-year-olds. The first of 10 Rosehill races Friday is at 9.40 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast live by FanDuel TV and Sky Racing World.

Get the cash with Nash

One of Sydney’s hottest jockeys is Nash Rawiller. The 48-year-old is a three-time winner of Sydney’s riding title but has not worn that crown since 2012. Results during the Everest carnival suggest that Rawiller is in career-best form: he went within a head of upsetting the Premiere (G2) last week on 8-1 shot Hawaii Five Oh, after having ridden a triple (including a stakes double) on each of the two previous Friday nights. Five of Rawiller’s seven mounts this Friday night are either favorite or second choice in early wagering. He is booked for no. 2 Peace Officer (5-2) in Race 2; no. 4 Way To The Stars (5-1) in Race 4; no. 2 Barber (8-1) in Race 5, the Roman Consul (G2); no. 11 Montefilia (3-1) in Race 7, the Petaluma Hill (G2); no. 1 Cepheus (6-1) in Race 8, the Alan Brown Stakes; no. 5 Magic Time (3-1) in Race 9, the Nivison (G3); and no. 4 Diamond Dealer (10-1) in Race 10.

Race callers honored

One of Friday night’s stakes races holds special significance for me, having been named for retired Sydney race calling legends John Tapp and Ian Craig. “Tappy” was offered the Hollywood Park job in 1990, came for a working vacation with his family, and brought a 24-year-old race caller from Brisbane with him to finish off the meeting and potentially stay on. 33 years later, yours truly has stayed like a mother-in-law. On a visit to Australia earlier this year, I had the enormous pleasure of visiting the Tapps, who invited Ian Craig around for a barbecue. The second running of the $500,000 Tapp-Craig Stakes (race no. 6), for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs, is headed by the rapidly improving Encap (6-5). After breaking his maiden in a Group 3, Encap went within a nose of beating Militarize in the Golden Rose (G1). This led to connections having a brief flirtation with a slot offer for the Everest, before settling on this more realistic spot.   

Countdown to The Everest

The world’s richest race on turf, staged under a slot-holder format, is now just a week away on Friday night, Oct. 13.

Hawaii Five Oh’s slashing 2nd in last week’s G2 Premiere Stakes earned the hulking sprinter a slot.

Mazu, who was a late scratch from the Premiere, proved his fitness with a good second on Tuesday morning in a star-studded “barrier trial” (training race). Four other candidates for The Everest contested the five-furlong trial, in which Overpass led throughout.  

Shinzo, winner of the Golden Slipper (world’s richest 2-year-old race) who disappointed off a layoff in the seven-furlong Golden Rose, has earned a slot after a satisfactory 3rd-place finish in the aforementioned trial/training race. Jockey Kerrin McEvoy, three-time winner of the Everest in the young race’s six-year history, has been booked.

Espiona, last-start winner of the Golden Pendant (G2) at seven furlongs, has earned a slot. Hugh Bowman, now based in Hong Kong and leading the jockey standings for the current season, will return to ride Espiona for trainer Chris Waller, reviving the partnership made famous by the great Winx.

Australian Zac Purton, reigning champion jockey in Hong Kong, has been engaged for Godolphin mare In Secret, who finished 4th in the same Tuesday trial/training race.

The final available slot will likely go to imported mare Alcohol Free, who finished 4th last week in the Premiere Stakes off a layoff.  

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on FanDuel TV this Friday night, with first post 9:40 p.m. EDT, alongside cards from Eagle Farm, Kembla Grange and Kalgoorlie.

About Michael Wrona

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Michael’s vast U.S. experience includes; race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders’ Cup on the International simulcast network. Michael also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

Coverage of the Everest carnival for Horse Racing Nation is made possible through a sponsorship by Sky Racing World.