1 week Ago By Chris Roots
There will be a sell-out crowd to watch the first group 1 Everest winner being crowned at Randwick on Saturday. The world’s richest race on turf, which is only in its eighth running, has never sold out four days out from race day before, and the crowd could top 50,000 at Randwick to watch the $20 million showcase and the King Charles III Stakes. James McDonald holds his Everest trophy towards the crowd after winning on Nature Strip in 2021.
Credit: “This race is hitting the very high target that we set for it, and now it has received the fitting and deserved honour of group 1 status,” Racing NSW’s Graeme Hinton said. “Two thirds of the sell-out crowd on Saturday will under 35, which is an entrance point for the next generation.” Australian Turf Club chief executive Matt Galanos expects the crowd to exceed the 46,498 that saw Winx’s final race in 2019, and it will once again be a party atmosphere for Sydney’s biggest race day.
“The TAB Everest has become the hottest ticket in town and is attracting new fans in record numbers,” Galanos said. “Saturday will set a new modern-day record number of patrons at Royal Randwick, eclipsing even the unprecedented final run of the immortal Winx.” The Everest (1200m) will also carry group 1 status for the first time.
Racing Australia confirmed the richest and highest-rating sprint in the world had earned and been given with the status. “We have written approval from the Asian pattern committee and thus the Asian Racing Federation for The Everest and the All Star Mile to be granted Group 1 status effective immediately in a letter we received last week,” Racing Australia chief executive Paul Eriksson said..
