The weights and measures say former Hong Kong sprinter Joyful Fortune should be at home in his box at Randwick, rather than in The Everest on Saturday.
If the race was run as a handicap, it would be hard to find a jockey for Joyful Fortune, who would be getting 23 kilos from the favourite, Nature Strip, based on their places in the benchmark.
Joyful Fortune gets a chance to make a name for himself in Australia in The Everest on Saturday.Credit:Racing Photos
Instead, they will meet with each carrying 58.5 kilograms: one with the pressure of expectation, the other with a career-defining opportunity. It’s why one is the $1.85 favourite and the other a $71 outsider.
“We are under no illusions that he has the task ahead of him. When he came into the stable, did I think he would be in The Everest this year? No,” said trainer Mark Newnham. “But he is a very fast horse, and we are going out there with nothing to lose and a lot to gain.”
Joyful Fortune ran one of the fastest 1000 metres at Sha Tin on debut, but constant leg problems saw him retired from Hong Kong last year.
He was sent back to Australia and had bone chips removed from his knees and his owners decided to give the six-year-old veteran of only seven starts for two wins another chance on the track.
“He was always a nice horse, and they said to me, ’Give him a try and let’s see where he finishes,” Newnham said. “The first thing we found out was he was fast, and we just found a good race for him first-up down in Melbourne.”
Joyful Fortune went to Flemington down the straight and toyed with his benchmark rivals and Aquis decided to take a chance on him in their slot for The Everest.
“I was probably thinking he could get to take the better sprinters if he kept stepping up, but it is hard to turn down a chance in The Everest,” Newnham said.
“When he won a heavy track at Flemington over 1100m, it was the first time he had run over more than 1000m in his career and he was very strong at the end.
“We get a chance that not many have to test him against the best sprinter in the world on Saturday, and if we can run in the first-five in will change our focus with him in the future.”
Tom Sherry takes the ride on Joyful Fortune, who won a Randwick barrier trial since his Australian debut, and will be issued with one instruction.
“Tom has done a lot of the work on him since he arrived, and I told him after he trialled him the other day that he had a ride in The Everest,” Newnham said. “He has drawn the rails and we will be using the draw and his best asset, which is his sheer speed.”
