Doomben 10,000 winner English could be racing for a slot in the 2018 The Everest when she lines up in Saturday’s Group 1 $700,000 Kingsford-Smith Cup (1350m) at Doomben.
English, above, will be chasing a slot in The Everest when she lines up in the Kingsford-Smith Cup at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained English finished sixth to Redzel in the inaugural running of the $10m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick during the 2017 Sydney Spring Carnival and the Encosta De Lago mare was back to her best with a resounding win in the Group 1 $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben on May 12.
Back to back Queensland Winter Racing Carnival Group 1 wins by English will have slot holders for this year’s $13m The Everest very interested in the multiple Group 1 winning mare and co-trainer Adrian Bott is keen to see her selected again this year to take her place in the world’s richest sprint.
“We’d love a chance to get her to the Everest. I think she’s more than capable of training on,” Bott tols AAP.
“She showed she can bounce back to her best and mix it with the top sprinters in Australia.”
Bott has reported that English has pulled up in great order following her win in the Doomben 10,000 and came through an easy workout at the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning with Doomben 10,000 winning jockey Tim Clark putting the mare through her paces.
“We’re really happy with the way she’s come back after the 10,000 and hopefully she can hold that form through to the next start,” Bott said.
“She worked well. She’s been in work a long time so she wasn’t there to break any records.”
English had won once at Group 1 level before her Doomben 10,000 victory, in the 2016 Group 1 $600,000 Schweppes All Aged Stakes (1400m) at Randwick but hadn’t been in the winner’s stall since saluting in the Group 2 $500,000 Hyland Race Colours Challenge Stakes (1000m) at Randwick during the 2017 Sydney Autumn Carnival.
Even though English had been out of the winner’s list for over twelve months, Bott was confident that the Encosta De Lago mare was still capable of securing another Group 1 win before being retired to stud.
“We were really confident taking her up there but I guess it’s difficult when they haven’t won for that length of time,” Bott said.
“We were continually making excuses for her and you wonder if you’ll be doing that again even though we were really confident with where she was at and the timing of her preparation.”
Early betting for the 2018 Kingsford-Smith Cup at Ladbrokes.com.au: $3.50 Le Romain, $4.50 Impending, $6 Care To Think, $7 English, $12 Spieth, Volpe Veloce, $17 Endless Drama, $21 Lucky Hussler, Perast, $26 Danon Liberty, Foxplay, Most Important, Supido, Voodoo Lad, $34 Santa Ana Lane, $41 First Among Equals, Glenall, $51 or better the rest.
