Godolphin is the last slotholder standing for The Everest and is still considering its options for a horse and a jockey for next Saturday’s $15 million showcase.
Australia’s biggest racing operation has plenty of candidates and a standout performance at Caulfield or Randwick could push a horse into the biggest race of its career.
Godolphin colt Paulele has a choice between The Everest and the Manikato Stakes after Saturday’s Schillaci Stakes. Credit:Getty
“We have no horse and no jockey locked in at the moment, but we have lists for both of them,” trainer James Cummings said. “It’s good to have a choice, we just have to make the right one.
“We will be taking an in-form horse into The Everest, and then we will find the best rider for it. All the cards are on the table and if a horse was to come out and do something special on Saturday, they could become our horse.”
The powerbrokers at Godolphin will sit down on Monday for their usual start-of-the-week meeting, and it’s where a final Everest decision will be made by boss Vin Cox in concert with Cummings and key members of the team.
“We are certainly going to be considering the track condition when we make the call because it looks like it will be soft,” Cox said. “We will look at all the variables and come up with our best chance to win the Everest.”
Kementari remains the benchmark horse for Godolphin in The Everest, considering the race will be run on a wet track.
He has form around the horses considered the main dangers to Nature Strip after running fourth in last week’s Premiere Stakes right on the heels of Lost And Running, Mazu and Masked Crusader, who will all run in The Everest.
Godolphin could consider a leftfield selection if Vilana or Brigantine can win on a very heavy surface in the Silver Eagle at Randwick on Saturday.
“The Silver Eagle horses get their chance to show us at Randwick what they can do,” Cummings said. “I expect them to run well and if they were to win they would make our choice a bit harder. I think they will both handle the track and are going really.”
Paulele and Ingratiating head the field for the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield, a race Godolphin won with Trekking in 2019 before he was third to Yes Yes Yes in The Everest a week later.
They are both entires, so group 1 racing is also a consideration for them with Paulele, one of the favourite for the Manikato Stakes, and Cummings expects him to confirm his top level credentials at Caulfield.
“I think the horse is well in at weight-for-age, no doubt about that,” Cummings said. “We should see a different Paulele in this race on Saturday at 1100m compared to the rush of the five furlongs in The Moir that he experienced at Moonee Valley first-up. He looks well to our eye with the advantage of being open to further improvement.”
Ingratiating, a Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper placegetter, has a great Caulfield record and the benefit of a first-up win over the 1100m on a heavy surface.
“I think it was a little unfair that he was a forgotten horse coming into this preparation,” Cummings said. “He had experienced not a lot of luck in his former campaign and there aren’t too many colts in Australia who were placed in both a Golden Slipper and a Blue Diamond.
“But one thing about Ingratiating is he’ll be storming home and, if it’s within his reach, he’s going to have the desire he showed first-up to get up and get the job done.”
The other sprinter of interest is mare Zapateo, which has won a Toy Show Stakes and the How Now Stakes heading into the Northwood Plume Stakes.
“She was excellent last time, she took advantage of being away from the rail when the rain came at Caulfield,” Cummings said. “She’s two from two against the mares this campaign, and she looks well-suited here running against the mares.”
