The Everest: Will a filly or mare win this year?

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

With half the slots for The Everest remaining unannounced, 2024 might be the year we first see a filly or mare win the rich slot race. With the announcement on Wednesday that Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon) will run for James Harron Bloodstock’s slot, this brings the number of fillies and mares in the field to four of the five who are formally announced.

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Lady Of Camelot heads to The Everest

Lady Of Camelot becomes the third G1 Golden Slipper winner to contest The Everest following an announcement by James Harron Bloodstock on Wednesday. The other two were She Will Reign (Manhattan Rain) who ran 11th, and Shinzo (Snitzel) who ran 9th.

“It is fantastic to do a deal with Sir Owen. Lady Of Camelot is an outstanding flagship for his hugely successful breeding operation and we are looking forward to cheering her on at Randwick in The Everest, with upside for our partners in the slot built into the deal should she run as well as we hope she can,” Harron said in a press release.

Lady Of Camelot won two of her five starts at two. She resumed in the G1 AJ Moir S., attempting to copy G1 Golden Slipper She Will Reign who won both, and was excellent in placing third behind Mornington Glory (Shalaa {Ire}) and fellow 3-year-old filly Hayasugi (Royal Meeting {Ire}). At her second start at three, she ran mid-field in the G2 The Shorts.

Harron chatted to TTR and expanded on her race record. “She’s showed that she can perform to the very elite level. Her Slipper win rated extremely highly in what looks like a stellar crop of nice 3-year-olds, and her return run in the Moir was superb. It gave us the confidence that she’s come back (at three).

“Her second-up run was a bit disappointing on face value, however she was badly in at the weights and things didn’t pan out for her. She had a little freshen up in the paddock after that, and (Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott)’s plan is to have her fresh and just have a trial leading into the Everest. So far, there’s not a lot of speed in the race, and she’s got a healthy weight allowance, being at Weight For Age (conditions) and will carry 51kg.

“It looks like being an incredibly competitive year and will be interesting to see what other 3-year-olds enter the field and bring some new form lines into the sprinting mix.”

Strong record for 3-year-olds

Lady Of Camelot looks to join 3-year-old winners Yes Yes Yes (Rubick) and Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) to make the three 3-year-olds in eight years for The Everest.

“Winning the breed-shaping Group 1 Golden Slipper was an incredible achievement for Sir Owen as an owner and a breeder,” Steve O'Connor, director of Go Bloodstock for Sir Owen Glenn, said in a press release. “So, to have her now heading towards The Everest will be another exciting step in a fantastic journey.”

Lady Of Camelot is beautifully bred, being out of emerging blue hen broodmare Miss Debutante (Fastnet Rock) who won the Listed Denise’s Joy S. and is the dam of three runners, for three stakes winners. As well as Group 1 winner Lady Of Camelot, Miss Debutant has produced four-time Group 3 winner Queen Of The Ball (I Am Invincible) and Group 3 winner Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar).

Gallery: Three-year-old winners of The Everest since its inception

Second dam, More Than Real (USA) (More Than Ready {USA}) won the G2 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and was Group 1 placed, while third dam Miss Seffens (USA) (Dehere {USA}) won five Listed races among her eleven wins. Fourth dam Noise Enough (USA) (Bold Ruckus {USA}) won the Listed Woodbine Yearling Sales S.

With six of the seven winners to date being geldings, The Everest is yet to have much impact on the breeding industry. Yes Yes Yes, the only colt to win, is beginning to show success at stud with his first crop just turned three. To date, he has sired ten winners with five horses earning black type.

Table: Past winners of The Everest

The 2024 runners to date

Of the twelve slots for the 2024 The Everest, six have been confirmed with Ciaron Maher set to train two runners, Bella Nipotina (Pride Of Dubai) and I Am Me (I Am Invincible).

Ciaron Maher’s pair recently quinellaed the G3 Concorde S. with I Am Me winning over Bella Nipotina, and I Am Me backed the win up with another in the G2 The Shorts at her most recent start.

The slot holders still to make an announcement are Australian Turf Club, Coolmore, Godolphin, John Camilleri, Whitby/Madden/Werrett, and Yulong Investments.

Gallery: Some of The Everest runners in 2024, images courtesy of The Image Is Everything

The slot held by Max Whitby, Col Madden and Neil Werrett had originally announced 3-year-old gelding Bustling (Frosted {USA}) but he was withdrawn by his trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Junior on Tuesday. The boom juvenile, who won four of his five starts in Perth, ran eighth in the G2 Run To The Rose when he resumed at three, then his trainers announced that his latest gallop had been disappointing and this led to his withdrawal from this year’s The Everest.

Coolmore appears likely to have exciting 3-year-old colt Storm Boy (Justify) run in their slot, given their ownership in the colt and co-trainer Gai Waterhouse announcing on Tuesday that he will be aimed that way. Storm Boy won his first four in succession at two including the R-Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic and the G2 Skyline S, before running third in the G1 Golden Slipper and fourth in the G1 Sires’ Produce S. At three, he won the G3 San Domenico S. first up, then was third in the G2 Run To The Rose and fourth in the G1 Golden Rose. Coolmore bought into the ownership of Storm Boy after the Magic Millions 2YO Classic win.

The other ‘likely’ slot is that Sunshine In Paris (Invader) will run for John Camilleri’s slot, as the 5-year-old mare is owned by Camilleri’s Fairway Thoroughbreds. She was announced for last year’s The Everest in the slot owned by Aquis Farm but didn’t run.

Table: The Everest field so far

Record of fillies and mares in The Everest

In the first seven runnings of The Everest, there has yet to be a filly or mare win or place in the race. In Secret (I Am Invincible) who ran fourth in 2023 is the best of the 17 fillies and mares who have contested the race to date. They represent 20% of the 84 runners to date (12 slots over 7 years). This year six of the eight announced (or likely) runners are fillies or mares, marking a potential change in their fortunes.

“We’ve got two pretty tough mares to break a trend, so hopefully one of them can do it,” said Ciaron Maher’s stable representative Will Bourne. “It’d be hard to rule out either of them. They are tough durable sprinters, and you shouldn’t dismiss them on the day. You’d have to go far and wide to find a tougher racehorse than Bella Nipotina. She’s exceptional. Bella Nipotina will run this weekend in the Premiere and I Am Me will go directly into The Everest for her next start.”

With only seven winners of The Everest in history, it is far too soon to make any calls against fillies and mares in this contest, and anyone making such a call of this scanty amount of data is likely to have egg on their face, especially given the number of fillies and mares slotted in for 2024.

Table: Fillies/Mares that have run in The Everest since its inception