There are a host of possible rags to riches stories in Saturday's $15 million race. There is Behemoth (All Too Hard), whose considerable size proved an obstacle to his sale as a yearling, where he fetched $6000 to be now owned by a syndicate of owners under the Grand Syndicates banner.
There is fellow South Australia-trained Gytrash (Lope De Vega {Ire}), who has propelled Gordon Richards and his owners on an amazing ride to date, and there is Haut Brion Her (Zoustar), whose own successful comeback to the track is the result of a snap decision by the Liston family that she was better-placed as a racehorse than as a broodmare.
But none of The Everest contenders boasts a back story as humble as Eduardo's. Bred by Kaufmann from a broodmare who cost just $4000 and by an imported stallion from Chile whose breeding career never reached major heights, Eduardo sat in the paddock at Kaufmann's property south-east of Melbourne, unbroken until he was a 4-year-old.
Kaufmann and fellow owner Nick Cresci couldn't afford to put him in work while his older sister, Watch Me Blush (Keffelstein) was on the track and it was only when her racetrack career finished in early 2018 that it was decided to give her younger half-brother a shot at being a racehorse.
Eduardo as a foal | Image courtesy of Jane Kaufmann
He debuted with a 6l maiden win at Moe for Cranbourne trainer Sarah Zschoke in June 2018 and by October that year, he was a Group 2 winner in the Caulfield Sprint at just his fifth start. A week earlier at Randwick, Redzel (Snitzel) won his second Everest and in the back of Kaufmann's mind was the possibility, one day, Eduardo might be there as well.
Eduardo was tested out against top company in the autumn of 2019 and was a narrow third behind Booker (Written Tycoon) in the G1 Oakleigh Plate, his best performance of a three-run campaign.
At that point, there was considerable interest in purchasing Eduardo from several parties, with an eye to the 2019 edition of The Everest, but none of those came to fruition, and after a couple of competitive performances last spring, including a seventh, beaten just 1.45l in the G1 Moir S., it seemed the opportunity may have passed him by.
When he returned with two sub-par performances in the autumn, the word from Zschoke and the other owners was that he had lost his verve for racing. Winless since that Group 2 success at Caulfield, 20 months prior, retirement loomed.
But Kaufmann, although a minority shareholder in the ownership of the then rising 7-year-old, had different ideas.
Let's go shopping
"I was told that he didn't want to run anymore and I said what a load of bull. The other owner said to me, 'what do you think is wrong with him?' and I told him I thought he was bored. He told me to take him shopping," Kaufmann told TDN AusNZ.
"The other owner said to me, 'what do you think is wrong with him?' and I told him I thought he was bored. He told me to take him shopping." - Jane Kaufmann
If there's one thing Kaufmann knows, it’s whether a horse is happy or not. She hosts an array of broodmares and ex-racehorses on her property and loves nothing more than to spend her time in company with them. As she speaks to TDN AusNZ ahead of Saturday's races, she is out with her grandchildren, patting 'the ponies'.
What she found out was that not only was there a deal out there to be done, but it was one which would see her and Cresci able to stay involved with the horse.
In June this year, he headed to Joe Pride's stables at Warwick Farm, with a view to resurrecting his stalled career.
The impact of the change of scenery was immediate, and after winning the July Sprint at Rosehill at his first start for Pride, he powered clear in an all-the-way success in the G2 Missile S. in early August.
"To see that he got his brilliance back and to be where he is now is wonderful. It makes me realise that I was never wrong with him. When we got this offer, I thought it was an opportunity, and we stayed in him. It’s wonderful to see what he has been able to do since then," she said.
Suddenly Eduardo was being talked about as a possible Everest contender, and he pressed the case further when he returned from a let-up with an excellent second in the G2 The Shorts, where he split Everest-bound pair Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) and Bivouac (Exceed And Excel).
Another deal worth doing
MiRunners had initially selected Queensland 3-year-old Rothfire (Rothesay) for its slot in The Everest, but when he unfortunately went amiss in the G1 Golden Rose S., it opened a window for Eduardo.
A few days later, the deal was stitched up and Kaufmann's ambition to see her boy on the big stage of Australia's richest sprint race had been realised.
"It is just unbelievable really. I never thought it would happen with us in the ownership. Someone had tried to buy him to run in The Everest in previous years, but I didn’t think it would be something we would experience ourselves. I'm just so proud that his real ability is showing through," she said.
"It is just unbelievable really. I never thought it would happen with us in the ownership." - Jane Kaufmann
"It’s not always a bad thing if they don't get broken in until late. That was all a financial thing really, but he's just an amazing horse and so gutsy. He doesn't want anything to beat him."
And Kaufmann has a degree of confidence ahead of Saturday, reflecting back on his huge run in the 2019 Oakleigh Plate, when, from a wide barrier, he held out likely Everest front-runner Nature Strip (Nicconi) for the lead and fought on hard before being beaten less than 1l. In that regard barrier nine in a 12-horse field on Saturday holds no fear for her.
Connection continues with family
While Eduardo's dam, Blushing (Fantastic Light {USA}), who she and co-owner Cresci paid $4000 in 2010, unfortunately died four years ago with Eduardo her final foal, the pair do maintain a connection to the rest of the family.
Cresci is breeding from Watch Me Blush, and she produced a Rock Hero colt last year and is in foal to the same stallion again, while a half-brother, My Angus (Domesday) is on Kaufmann's property and holds a special place in her heart.
"I lease 50 acres and have a collection of broodmares and ex-racehorse and horses that never did anything, and he is out there with them. He's looking fantastic, Angus, and he is very similar to Eduardo, in the fact he really has a personality. Some horses don’t, but he has such a personality. He's very loving, but he is very cheeky," she said.
Kaufmann would love nothing more than to see Eduardo at Randwick this Saturday, but like the rest of Victoria, she is prevented from coming to New South Wales by COVID-19 restrictions.
"I wish we could be up there, that would be wonderful. I'll just watch it on the TV. It’s probably not a bad thing, because I get so nervous ahead of the races," she said.
"It's just a thrill being in the race. It’s just a huge, huge thrill."
