The Everest

So I think that's probably a little unfortunate, but that's just the nature of being so much better than everyone else.

So probably Tempted because she's the Everest winner.

let's find out whether or not she can do it up the straight against horses that are proven up the straight.

And I don't think there's that much between them.

There has been a few stars go under, a few bubbles burst.

I remember Nature Strip going down in Champions Sprint to the mayor of Mike Moroney's a couple of years ago.

So for those people out there that think the Everest win attempted might just be a good thing, I would maybe advise you to think otherwise.

And one of the major reasons is because there is a horse called Headwall that hasn't been far away.

It won't surprise me, and I do think that she is the best sprinter in the country and one of the best horses in the country, and she's got the best turn of foot in the country.

So I say it won't surprise me because she's a darn good racehorse, and the Everest win had a lot more merit than it looks to the eye given the early work she did.

She showed some versatility, but I'm looking at this race, and maybe I'm sort of trying to be a little bit too tricky, looking away from the best horse, but I'm looking at the way the race might be run, And I see James McDonald drawn barrier 10.

And I see Chad Schofield drawn barrier nine with James McDonald on the second favourite.

I'm looking at a couple of horses that could be off and gone.

Marzu has beaten some of these several times, never in their grand final, but I did think his first up run uh well he's first run in victoria for some time at flemington last start was good he actually didn't go that hard he got a nice head start but he fought right back when smooth chino measured up if they're all jostling and he's off and gone he might be hard to run down with some give in the ground first start kirimar cabalus is the one that i think can actually win so i've had something very small to win on mazu more to place But Cabalas, I think he can win because he's that one that follows Mazu.

He was good in the Everest.

He was only beaten two and a half lengths and he was held up.

as well.

Can I make a comparison, Sam Williams, that races like the Melbourne Cup are test cricket and races like the Golden Eagle and the Everest, they're for the Rapids, they're the T20.

And...

It's almost like the traditionalists love New Zealand Cup, Auckland Cup, Wellington Cup, Melbourne Cup, Australia Cup, Sydney Cup and all of that.

But they're not as sexy as they used to be and it's a changing of the times?

I think you've hit it on the head.

Peter Volandi's... what is it, 11 years now, the Everest bingo? Yeah.

Peter Volandi brought in a race called the Everest.

Robbie Williams was just brilliant, and they hit the nail on the head with him.

I mean, admittedly, they had a bit of good fortune, the fact he was in Melbourne at the same time, but... to get an artist that can appeal to the seven year old the 17 year old the 37 year old and the 77 year old everyone loves him so that was absolutely amazing it got everyone really up and about and the race itself was very entertaining what royal supremacy nearly did with that front running right there from benny allen added to the excitement all credit to the winner and all credit to the master himself in Kieran Maher who has just gone from strength to strength he's already had an amazing spring he's got the Melbourne Cup he's got the Everest and potentially more success on Saturday

I call Melbourne Cup day oh nice to hear from you again day because you hear from people that you never hear from for another 365 days when they go got a tip how many texts do you reckon you got on Tuesday Quinny

yeah unfortunately for me tip changes to tickets which is much more stressful so yes it is an interesting time of year yeah

It's going to be an absolute ripper.

spot-on and all really intriguing races.

Race six, you've got the champion sprint headlined by Tempted, who won the Everest.

Race seven, we've got Autumn Glow, who for mine is the best horse in the country.

Tempton is unsurprisingly the favourite.

$1.90. She's opened the Everest winner.

$4.50 for Jolly Star, a third-place getter in that race.

Headwall, $9.00. $15.00 for Calibus.

I think $1.90 is juicy, but we've seen favourites get rolled before and the track conditions may play a part on Saturday.

I just can't see how the likes of Jolly Star, Headwall, Calibers turn the tables on her.

If she turns up anywhere near her best, and I don't think she would have come on since the Everest, but if she brings that sort of form to this race, then $1.90 looked a spoil to me.

I thought she'd go up about $1.60, you thought?

And I said, look, it's the race that stops the nation, yes.

But I said, if you talk to the purists, really, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, the Everest is probably challenging now, but Cox Plate is our premier event, I still think.

I think you're probably fair, but I don't think any race has the aura that the Melbourne Cup has.

Having been here on Cox Plate Day, there's probably a third of the people that are here today The joint is absolutely heaving.

It's going to be outstanding.

We'll probably see the two best horses in the nation in Autumn Glow contesting the Champions Mile.

And then Tempted, who, of course, knocked off Kai Ying, rising in the Everest, contesting the champion sprint down the straight.

So, look, for racing fans, Saturday, it does not get much better than that when you see the two best horses in Australia running on the same program.

And it was established, actually, it was established out of an argument between the two Melbourne racing clubs and also a desire to prove that Melbourne was far superior to Sydney and had the richest race in the world.

And I have to say that's still continuing today with New South Wales trying to you know, steal the glory with the Everest and even running a $2 million race on Melbourne Cup Day.

So this rivalry has been there for an awful long time.

So it starts out of a bit of a classic feud between two cities.

Yeah, it's been a big rebuild, really, of the number of people coming to the Cup in recent years.

So we've got a new chief executive of the VRC.

And really, I think what's happened is that Racing in Victoria has seen the marvellous job that Peter Volandis in Racing NSW has done in reinventing the sport through the Everest and the Golden Eagle.

And Melbourne has had a mortgage on Spring for, as I mentioned before, 166 years.