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If you had the opportunity to choose the world’s best, you wouldn’t miss it. Neither did Australia’s leading trainer. Racing in the Chris Waller slot, the reigning Australian Horse of the Year is considered as the horse to beat.
Seventy seconds. A$15 million. One winner.
Everest-winning trainer talks to Everest Diaries through what’s gone into the preparation for this tremendous race, the challenges and the evolution of the race.
Q: Having trained a few horses for Everest, has your preparation changed or evolved?
A: The first year we didn't have runners, and I could see it was quickly a talking point and a much-targeted race, from around the world, the massive prize money and the different angles players can participate in the Everest certainly captured the imagination of a lot of people. So quickly we had to change from this time of the year targeting middle-distance horses and stayers to speed horses.
And the next year, we managed to have three runners in the race and won with Yes, Yes, Yes. With him being a 3YO colt, it opened up the race for other 3YOs to continue to confidently target the race knowing that they're competitive, despite not having the same winning race records as their opposition.
But Yes, Yes, Yes was obviously a very talented horse and having won the race with him has enhanced confidence even further. For the likes of Nature Strip this year, we have changed his preparation. We've started later because I just thought last prep, we had him in a bit too early. He had a few issues along the way. And I think he was ready to go before the race was run.
Q: How is Nature Strip doing and what are your preparation plans for him going up to the Everest?
A: Well, he races very well fresh so we decided that his lead-up run would be four weeks prior to the Everest. In between, he stayed a few days at the farm just to recover from his last start. He's now undergoing some fairly intense work, speed work in particular.
Keeping him right, physically and mentally is the challenge with any horse.
Nature Strip, in particular, thrives on confidence.
And that's what we're concentrating on he will have when he jumps out. Prior to Everest, it will be eight to ten days of work, jumping from the barriers with two or three of his stablemates and a good solid 800m work here. And then one more piece of work prior to Everest.
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Q: As a slot holder, you're the first to pick your horse, you made the choice really early, what made you single them out so early?
A: Well, when you're training a horse, you've got complete control you know exactly how the horse is going and not relying on other information. So, if you can choose the horse that you train, I feel it gives the slot holders a little bit more confidence, especially when you've got a horse who's just been rated the highest-rated sprinter in the world after his impressive TJ.
When in the autumn, it was common sense to try and get the horse, fortunately, the owners probably could have taken a more lucrative bid if they demanded it but they were very fair to myself and my team basically appreciating what we've done for the horse. And in return, they have accepted our slot so it's just good to be working with decent people and people that really appreciate all angles of the sport so it's something I'm proud of and grateful to have Nature Strip in our slot.
Q: As a slot holder, what's the most exciting about this year's Everest?
A: Well, having one on the main chances, I think is important. The slot holders do invest a lot of money, so they want to return so having one of the main chances certainly creates great interest, and yeah, just give so many people that chance to enjoy Everest.
As an owner basically Nature strip got twice as many owners in Everest than he has in any other race. When you give someone the opportunity to share in a horse like Nature Strip, rated so highly against world-class sprinters, it's very exciting. So, I think the race will continue to evolve. People become familiar with the horses running on Everest. Not only is it Everest, but it's the lead-up race. In fact, they'll be talking about the race again, the next day for the following year. And with any media promotion or something that's a little bit different, it captures people's imagination. So for that reason, the evolvement of Everest will continue to grow from strength to strength and who knows how much it'll be worth in 5, 10 or 20 years’ time. It would be a very exciting race to watch.