Haut Brion Her in, Farnan out in last-minute Everest shake-up

The field for Saturday’s The TAB Everest is set with Chris Waller Racing striking a deal with Victorian farm Three Bridges Thoroughbreds to run Haut Brion Her in the $15 million race, while Farnan has been withdrawn with Aquis replacing the G1 Golden Slipper winner with Tony and Calvin McEvoy's Dollar For Dollar.

A dual Group 2-winning 5-year-old daughter of Zoustar, Haut Brion Her is only lightly raced with 10 starts to her name and will contest The Everest third-up this preparation, following a dazzling victory in the G2 Sheraco S. over 1200 metres.

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Her winning time of 1:09.05 is the fastest ever for the event since it was run over the current distance, and less than half a second off the Rosehill track record.

Peter Liston, owner of Three Bridges who bred and race the 5-year-old mare, said he was thrilled to be involved in a great showpiece like The Everest.

“It’s sensational,” Liston told TDN AusNZ. “It’ll be our first runner that we’ve had in the race and hopefully not the last.

“The whole concept is exciting and to have one that Chris Waller thinks is good enough to go into the race, we’re very proud.

“We back our product and that’s why we’ve bought the stock to prove what we’re doing, we think is right.

“If she wins that will be great, but we’re just proud to have a horse of her calibre that was born here, raised here and has got our brand on it to run in a $15 million race. That’s what breeding is all about.

“I’d also like to thank the rest of the partners in the horse for all of their efforts. They’re great friends and great supporters of Three Bridges and we really appreciate all they have done for us.”

Fruitful spring

It’s already been a fruitful spring for Three Bridges with the feats of graduates Felicia (Unencumbered) and Night Raid (Vancouver) as well as Haut Brion Her’s successes, and Liston believes The Everest would be the cherry on top.

“We’d obviously like to win a Group 1 with her and we were thinking about the Manikato, but Chris has always thought she goes better the Sydney way and I’m sure if she won The Everest and became the first-ever mare to win it, I don’t think people would forget that either.

“So let’s hope we can get a good draw and away we go.”

Haut Brion Her’s dam One In A Million (Redoute’s Choice) was purchased by Paul Willetts Bloodstock on behalf of Three Bridges at the 2015 Inglis Sydney Weanling and Broodmare Sale for $170,000, which was $50,000 more than their intended spend.

At the time, Liston wasn’t happy with exceeding their original budget but in hindsight, it all worked out for the best.

“All will be forgiven if she wins on Saturday,” Liston joked.

“I was just sitting on the other side of the auditorium and the mare walked in. They got to our reserve which I think was $120,000 and they just kept going. They went $50,000 over and it was a bit frosty for a day or so but we all move on.”

As Haut Brion Her’s chances in the race, Liston believes drawing a good barrier is the key.

“When she won the Sheraco, she was only a fraction outside the track record and she came from a wide barrier that day so I think if we can draw a barrier, we’ll be competitive,” he said.

The announcement means Waller Racing will now have two stable representatives in The Everest field, with Nature Strip (Nicconi) racing in the TAB-owned slot. Last year the Waller stable won the event with 3-year-old colt Yes Yes Yes.

“It’s incredibly exciting for the whole Waller Racing team to see two of our stable stars line-up as genuine chances in the 2020 Everest,” Waller said.

“Haut Brion Her has shown her brilliant speed this preparation with a superb win in the Sheraco and I know she is capable of giving this race a shake. Her work has been faultless the last two weeks which gives me great confidence that she will be primed to put in a big performance on Saturday.”

Brenton Avdulla has been booked to ride.

Farnan out, Dollar in

Late on Monday, Aquis announced that the Gai Waterhouse and Adrain Bott-trained Farnan will not take his place in the $15 million race and they have filled their slot with Dollar For Dollar who was already headed for Sydney to contest the G3 Sydney S.

"Tony McEvoy and his team, we've had a great association with them. He (Dollar For Dollar) was heading up to Sydney anyway, I thought he has got a pretty good profile for the race," Aquis Managing Director Shane McGrath said.

"He is probably the horse we thought, we were surprised he hadn't already been chosen, to be honest. His last start was a proper run in Group 1 form.

"He is tough and he is sound and I think he will give everyone a great site."

Last week, Farnan missed a key lead-up run in the G2 Roman Consul S. due to lameness. In a statement made by the Waterhouse and Bott stable they said the 3-year-old colt will instead be set for the G1 Coolmore Stud S.

"Farnan is in good health and will trial publicly this week prior to Melbourne," the statement read.

McGrath added: "We had a discussion with the ownership group earlier this afternoon in relation to Farnan, he just missed one little piece of work. You're heading into the biggest race of his life and the hottest sprint in Australasia and you need everything the right way.

"We felt from the horse's point of view (it would be best) to regroup and push on to the Coolmore with him."

The line-up