Everest’s up for Hawaii Five Oh after Aquis swoops on sprinter
Son of I Am Invincible gets his chance in $20 million race following brilliant Premiere Stakes run
Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible) gained a slot in The Everest (1200m) field late yesterday, with connections rewarded with a place in the $20 million race on the back of his narrow Premiere Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) defeat at Randwick on Saturday.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained four-year-old will represent Aquis Farm in Saturday week’s Randwick race, replacing the injured Sunshine In Paris (Invader), who was ruled out for the spring and forced slot–holder Tony Fung to look elsewhere.
Hawaii Five Oh finished a close second to ruling favourite Think About It (So You Think) at the weekend,
Think About It, who will run in the Newgate-GPI slot, is equal favourite for The Everest alongside AJ Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) winner Imperatriz (I Am Invincible), whose Te Akau Racing trainer Mark Walker strongly suggested again on Friday night that the in-form mare would remain in Melbourne for the rest of the spring.
Tony Fung Investments’ racing manager Sally Williams confirmed that the Gerry Harvey and John Singleton-owned Hawaii Five Oh would run in The Everest.
James McDonald has been booked to ride the entire, a younger brother to the late stakes winner Libertini (I Am Invincible), who ran in the 2020 and 2021 Everests.
“Hawaii Five Oh was beyond impressive on Saturday and it’s a real buzz to be back in the race with one of the leading contenders after the withdrawal of Sunshine In Paris,” Williams told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“He’s a most exciting prospect in all regards and it’s great to partner for Sydney’s best race with Gerry Harvey and John Singleton, as well as the Waterhouse-Bott stable and James McDonald.”
Hawaii Five Oh, who won the Hawkesbury Guineas (Gr 3, 1400m) and Fred Best Classic (Gr 3, 1400m) in autumn, before running third in the Stradbroke Handicap (Gr 1, 1400m) behind Think About It, will be third-up this season going into The Everest.
He ran sixth first-up in The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m), which was won by Think About It’s Everest-bound stablemate Private Eye (Al Maher).