Climbing The Everest
Ahead of Saturday’s $20 million Randwick feature, we investigate the most successful sires, slotholders, trainers and jockeys in The Everest’s short history.
One measure of the cut-through horse racing has had in the broader Australian public is the proliferation of pub trivia questions it has spawned over the years. When did Phar Lap win the Melbourne Cup? How many races did Black Caviar win? Who is the only horse to win three Melbourne Cups, or four Cox Plates?
Australia’s richest race, The Everest (1200m), will have its seventh running on Saturday and while the level of coverage and excitement about the 2023 edition is equivalent to anything else on the racing calendar, that relative lack of history makes trivia a tricky subject.
But delving into the six editions of the race there are some very interesting trends and figures already emerging from the $20 million contest.
Given this is a bloodstock publication, the logical place to start is the representation of sires over the years. There have been 35 individual sires represented in the Everest across 53 different horses from 2017 until 2022.
It may surprise that the sire with the most runners, that is progeny who have contested individual editions of the race, is Lope De Vega (Shamardal), with seven. That includes three editions of The Everest from Santa Ana Lane and two apiece from Gytrash and Vega Magic.
Four sires, Nicconi (Bianconi), Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice), I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and Not A Single Doubt (Redoute’s Choice), have had five runners. The stallion with the most individual horses to have started in The Everest is I Am Invincible with four. That number will go to six with Hawaii Five Oh and In Secret engaged tomorrow.
The stallion with the highest progeny earnings out of the race is Snitzel, with $15.3 million. Of course, his son Redzel is the only multiple Everest winner. Interestingly, the Arrowfield champion has only had one runner in the past three editions, but has Shinzo representing him on Saturday. Shinzo is also the first Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner to run in the 1200-metre race since She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) in 2017.
If you rank sires by how their progeny has performed in The Everest by position (using a ‘reverse’ system – 12 points for first, 11 for second etc down to one for 12th), we see Lope De Vega comes out on top with 53 points, Snitzel on 41 and Nicconi on 39.
Leading sires in The Everest by prize-money
| Sire | Prize-money | Winners | Runners | Individual Horses |
| Snitzel | $15,299,000 | 2 | 5 | 3 |
| Nicconi | $9,542,750 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
| Not a Single Doubt | $8,299,000 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Rubick | $7,792,750 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
| Scissor Kick | $6,749,000 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Lope de Vega | $6,465,000 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| Street Cry | $3,940,000 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Toronado | $2,743,750 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Exceed and Excel | $2,400,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Al Maher | $2,300,000 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
If we step that sire analysis back a generation further to broodmare sires, we see Rubiton (Century), the damsire of Redzel, is on top with $12.8 million in earnings, ahead of Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) with $9.3 million and Desert Sun (Green Desert) with $9.1 million. Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) has the most Everest runners as a damsire with seven, across five individual horses.
It shouldn’t be surprising that the dominant trainer in Australia over the past decade has collected the most prize-money from its richest race. Chris Waller, who trained the winner of The Everest in 2019, with Yes Yes Yes (Rubick) and in 2021 with Nature Strip (Nicconi), has had horses win a total of $17.3 million in the race.
Redzel’s trainers Peter and Paul Snowden have had their runners earn $14.6 million, while the figure for Les Bridge, with 2020 winner Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt), is $7.95 million.
There have been 32 different trainers to have previously had runners in the race, with Waller and James Cummings having had eight runners each, while the Snowdens and Kris Lees have had five apiece. Cummings has had the most individual horses contest The Everest with six, one more than Waller.
Utilising the 12 to 1 points system mentioned above, we see that Waller is the leading Everest trainer with 62 points, compared to Cummings on 60. The Snowdens are on 42.
Top 10 trainers in The Everest by prize-money
| Trainer | Prizemoney | Winners | Runners | Individual Horses | 12-1 pts system |
| Chris Waller | $17,298,000 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 62 |
| Peter and Paul Snowden | $14,599,000 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 40 |
| Les Bridge | $7,949,000 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 27 |
| James Cummings | $7,627,500 | 0 | 8 | 6 | 60 |
| Clayton Douglas | $6,749,000 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| Joseph Pride | $4,593,750 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 25 |
| Team Hawkes | $3,143,750 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 24 |
| Anthony Freedman | $2,790,000 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 20 |
| Kris Lees | $2,295,000 | 0 | 5 | 4 | 32 |
| Gerald Ryan | $2,275,000 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
As for the jockeys, Kerrin McEvoy is the only one to win multiple editions of the race having won twice on Redzel and once on Classique Legend. Total prize-money for McEvoy’s six rides in the race has been $20.7 million, more than twice as much as Glen Boss, whose horses, including Yes Yes Yes, have earned $9.4 million. James McDonald, who won on Nature Strip in 2021, is third on $8.6 million.
There have been 30 jockeys to ride in The Everest to date and McEvoy is the only one to have ridden in all editions. He has his seventh ride in the race on board Shinzo tomorrow. Brenton Avdulla, Hugh Bowman and Tim Clark have ridden in five of the six editions, but of that trio only Bowman, on Espiona (Extreme Choice) will add to that total in 2023.
On the 12-1 Everest points system, McEvoy leads on 54 points, with Avdulla on 40 and Tommy Berry on 33. Berry rides Mazu (Maurice) in this year’s race.
Top 10 jockeys in The Everest by prize-money
| Jockey | Prize-money | Winners | Rides | 12-1 pts system |
| Kerrin McEvoy | $20,691,750 | 3 | 6 | 54 |
| Glen Boss | $9,449,000 | 1 | 3 | 27 |
| James McDonald | $8,599,000 | 1 | 4 | 29 |
| Craig Williams | $8,174,000 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| Tommy Berry | $4,630,000 | 0 | 4 | 33 |
| Brenton Avdulla | $4,450,000 | 0 | 5 | 40 |
| Josh Parr | $2,915,000 | 0 | 4 | 30 |
| Nash Rawiller | $2,743,750 | 0 | 4 | 22 |
| Tim Clark | $2,350,000 | 0 | 5 | 21 |
| Sam Clipperton | $2,350,000 | 0 | 3 | 22 |
Finally, we get to the concept of what makes The Everest unique, the slot concept. There are eight slotholders that have been involved in every edition of the race, James Harron, Inglis, The Star /(Arrowfield), Coolmore, TAB, Max Whitby/Neil Werrett, Aquis and Yulong.
Harron has won as a slotholder twice, in the inaugural edition with Redzel and then again last year with Giga Kick (Scissor Kick). Chris Waller Racing has also been successful twice, both with Waller-trained horses, while Yulong (Redzel) and Bon Ho (Classique Legend) are the remaining slot winners.
Waller Racing is the leading slot-holder on prize-money with $14.8 million, just edging out Harron on $14.6 million, while Yulong is third on $8.5 million.
Interestingly, the Whitby/Werrett combination leads on the 12-1 points system, with 46. That slot-holder may have never won The Everest but they have been second on two occasions, in 2022 and 2017, and fourth and fifth on other occasions.
Consistency is also behind the TAB finishing second on that score with 45 points. It has selected a second-placed runner once, but its selections have never finished further back than seventh in six editions of The Everest.
Top 5 slotholders in The Everest by prize-money
| Slotholders | Prizemoney | Winners | Races | 12-1 pts system |
| Chris Waller Racing | $14,823,000 | 2 | 5 | 42 |
| James Harron | $14,649,000 | 2 | 6 | 42 |
| Yulong | $8,467,750 | 1 | 6 | 26 |
| Bon Ho | $8,392,750 | 1 | 4 | 32 |
| Whitby/Werrett | $6,168,750 | 0 | 6 | 46 |
