The Golden Eagle, Sydney’s second richest horse race after The Everest, will be run and won this Saturday at Rosehill Racecourse for a prize pool of $10 million.
Like The Everest, the Golden Eagle is a brainchild of Racing New South Wales chief executive Peter V’landys.
It is a 1500-metre race strictly for four-year-old horses, meaning there is only one chance (year) to win it.
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Placed on the same day as Flemington’s Derby Day in Melbourne, the Golden Eagle’s inception in 2019 was a ploy from Racing NSW to attract some of the country’s best jockeys and horses to Sydney instead of what is Melbourne’s best race day of the year.
It has seemed to work in that sense, with leading Victorian jockeys Craig Williams, Damian Lane and Ben Melham to ride in Sydney this weekend, while star horses Legarto and Amelia’s Jewel will be tasked with winning the Golden Eagle instead of contesting an Empire Rose Stakes at Flemington, one of three Group 1’s on that card.
However, many will say that the addition of the Golden Eagle and the $3 million Giga Kick (race name changes every year depending on previous year’s Everest winner) to what was an otherwise dull Sydney meeting, is only a good thing for the sport and adds to what is a historic day on the Australian racing calendar.
Not only that, but unlike the vast majority of other high-profile races here, Racing NSW donates 10% of the Golden Eagle prizemoney ($1m) to charity.
The 2023 edition of the Golden Eagle is yet again a high-quality field at full capacity. The headline is undoubtedly WA mare Amelia’s Jewel, who is the deserved favourite.
Her main rivals appear to be NZ star Legarto, Hawaii Five Oh, who ran well in an Everest a few weeks back, and Epsom Handicap winner Rediener.
Rosehill Race 8 – JAMES SQUIRE GOLDEN EAGLE – 1500 metres @ 4:45pm (AEDT)
Horse Number – Horse – Trainer – Jockey – Barrier – Weight
1. HAWAII FIVE OH – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Nash Rawiller 4 57.5kg
2 ATTRITION – Mitchell Freedman Beau Mertens 19 57.5kg
3 PERICLES – James Cummings Ben Melham 1 57.5kg
4 GOLDEN MILE – James Cummings Zac Lloyd (a) 18 57.5kg
5 KOVALICA (NZ) – Chris Waller Tommy Berry 16 57.5kg
6 REDIENER – Chris Waller Ms Kathy O‘Hara 3 57.5kg
7 OSIPENKO (NZ) – Chris Waller Jason Collett 8 57.5kg
8 STRAIT ACER – Edward Cummings Tyler Schiller 7 57.5kg
9 COMMUNIST – Michael Freedman Koby Jennings 12 57.5kg
10 COIN TOSS – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Brett Prebble 17 57.5kg
11 KNIGHT‘S CHOICE – John Symons & Sheila Laxon Jaden Lloyd 10 57.5kg
12 OBAMBURUMAI (JPN) – Keiji Yoshimura Joshua Parr 2 56.5kg
13 NEW ENDEAVOUR (IRE) – Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Adam Hyeronimus 3 56.5kg
14 AGE OF KINGS (IRE) Chris Waller Craig Williams 11 56.5kg
15 GALERON (IRE) Charles Hills Regan Bayliss 14 56.5kg
16 AMELIA‘S JEWEL Simon A Miller Damian Lane 5 55.5kg
17 RUTHLESS DAME (NZ) Ciaron Maher & David Eustace Sam Clipperton 20 55.5kg
18 LEGARTO (NZ) Ken & Bev Kelso Michael Dee 6 55.5kg
19 VIENNA PRINCESS Chris Waller Kerrin McEvoy 9 55.5kg
20 RAZETA Kris Lees Dylan Gibbons 15 55.5kg
