Thousand Guineas Tips & Preview 2022
The Everest Tips & Preview 2022
Looking for The Everest tips and best bets? We dissect times and form to find the winner of the 2022 The Everest at Randwick.
THE EVEREST BETTING SNAPSHOT
It is the 2021 Everest winner, Nature Strip, that is rated as a $1.90 chance with NEDS in his quest to join Redzel as a dual winner of this race. The last start Premiere Stakes (1200m) winner, Lost And Running, is the only other horse in single figures and is at the $7 quote.
The exciting three-year-old, Jacquinot, is at $11, ahead of the likes of Eduardo and Masked Crusader (both $12). Private Eye is at $14, while Mazu is at $17. The other three-year-old in the race, Giga Kick, heads the rest of the field at the $26 quote.
THE EVEREST FORM ANALYSIS
Nature Strip has had just the one run this time in after claiming the Kings Stand Stakes (1006m) at Royal Ascot back in June. That came in the Shorts (1100m) at Randwick and he settled handy on a very slow early tempo before cruising to a one length win ahead of Overpass and Lost And Running.
The Chris Waller-trained galloper 6.8 lengths faster than standard, which is well below what he has been averaging over the past few campaigns but that was due to the slow early tempo. Expect him to raise the bar this Saturday.
Six runners come out of the Premiere Stakes (1200m) that was run on a Heavy 8 track at Randwick and was taken out by Lost And Running. The six-year-old went 6.4 lengths faster than standard in a race that panned out similar to Nature Strip’s a couple of weeks earlier. The winner should have improvement to come and it is hard to see the beaten brigade turning things around.
Mazu settled handy before landing in the runner-up slot, while Masked Crusader ran on for 3rd, producing the fastest late splits. He comes into it with more of a tempo in the Everest but has proven to be a rung below the absolute elite.
Best last start benchmark figures belong to Private Eye, who raced into Everest calculations with a big win at Flemington in the Gilgai Stakes (1200m) ahead of the Newmarket Handicap (1200m) winner, Roch N Horse. The Jo Pride-trained galloper set a personal best by going 13 lengths faster than standard.
He is behind his stablemate, Eduardo, in the market. The old sparring partner of Nature Strip was a dashing first up winner in the Concorde Stakes (1000m) before leading and running 4th behind Nature Strip at his latest.
The three-year-olds create appeal and Jacquinot could hardly have been more impressive in winning the Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill on September 24, storming home to claim the $1 million affair. Form out of that has been franked with the 4th placegetter, Golden Mile, coming out and winning the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) last weekend.
The Mick Price-trained galloper went 10.1 lengths faster than standard in the Golden Rose and will be out to emulate the feats of Yes Yes Yes, who is the only winner of the Everest as a three-year-old. That galloper was runner-up in the Golden Rose in 2019 before going one better in the Everest that year.
Giga Kick is the other youngster and just won the Danehill Stakes (1100m) at Flemington on October 1 but seems to be improving each time. His figures do suggest this and he went 10.1 lengths faster than standard in the Danehill. Both the three-year-olds may not have reached their ceiling yet.
Horses that bring a bit of X-factor are Ingratiating and Shades Of Rose. Ingratiating missed out last weekend in the Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caufliel behind his stablemate, Paulele. The Godolphin galloper went 11.3 lengths faster than standard and seems to have come back in good order. He was a winner at his start prior and loves a wet track.
Shades Of Rose has won seven of nine and comes into this with five weeks in between runs. She is the only mare in the race and is another that likes wet conditions, while she might give them something to chase.
THE EVEREST SPEED MAP
Look for Shades Of Rose and Eduardo to lead them up, while Joyful Fortune might kick up to box seat from barrier 1. It will be interesting to see where Nature Strip will end up. James McDonald will look to slot in handy from barrier 12 and it he can slot in with cover it could be game over. Mazu, Lost And Running, Giga Kick and Private Eye are likely to land midfield, while the backmarkers are the likes of Jacquinot, Masked Crusader and Ingratiating.
THE EVEREST TIPS AND BEST BETS
Nature Strip is the class act and will be hard to beat. Eduardo is the only horse in this field that has finished in front of Nature Strip in a race, doing so on three occasions out of the nine that the two have met. Have to respect Chris Waller, who has been able to get the champion up for his Grand Final type races. Impossible to tip against.
