AUSTRALASIA · SATURDAY 17 OCTOBER 2026
Royal Randwick, Sydney. 1200 metres. Over $20 million.
Over $20 million for a race that is over in about a minute. The Everest is a sprint of 1200 metres, roughly six furlongs, at Royal Randwick in Sydney, and it is one of the richest races run anywhere.
Nobody qualifies on form. The field is twelve slots, sold to slot holders, and each slot holder picks the horse that runs in it. Think franchise licences: the people who own the slots decide who gets to play, which is why the weeks before the race are full of deals, switches and late picks.
The facts
- When: Saturday 17 October 2026
- Where: Royal Randwick, Sydney
- Distance: 1200 metres, about six furlongs
- Prizemoney: over $20 million, Australian dollars
- Field: twelve slots, each filled by its slot holder
How Turfling covers it
The Australasia brief tracks the field every morning in race week. On Instagram we ask you to call the winner before the jump and post the result after. Percentages and picks only, never odds.
Every brief on The Everest
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6–10 minutes
Final Orders makes it two in a row for Cromwell at Pardubice
Keith Donoghue and Gavin Cromwell won the Velka pardubicka for a second year running as Final Orders held the home trained Godfrey over 6,900 metres and 31 obstacles at Pardubice.
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5–7 minutes
Melham booked for Blind Raise as the Cox Plate call nears
Jamie Melham will ride Blind Raise at 49.5kg in the Group 1 Cox Plate at Flemington on 24 October if the Caulfield Guineas runner up takes his place, with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young to decide in the next few days.
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5–7 minutes
Warwoven completes the Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas double
Warwoven became the fourth horse to complete the Golden Rose and Caulfield Guineas double, beating Blind Raise by a length and three quarters in Saturday’s $3 million Caulfield Guineas.
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7–11 minutes
Daryz retires to stud after a second Arc
Aga Khan Studs have retired the dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Daryz, with the choice between Haras de Bonneval in France and Gilltown Stud in Kildare still to be made.
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8–12 minutes
Luster crosses the border for the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
Luster, the King’s Plate winner, heads eleven fillies into Saturday’s Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup at Keeneland, the 43rd running and worth 750,000 dollars.
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6–9 minutes
Book 1 ends with 17 yearlings at a million guineas or more
Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale closed on turnover of 126,516,000 guineas, one per cent below last year from 11 per cent fewer horses sold, with the average up 12 per cent and a record equalling 17 yearlings at a million guineas or more.
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5–8 minutes
Warwoven and Blind Raise collide in the Caulfield Guineas
The Golden Rose winner Warwoven makes his Melbourne debut against the unbeaten New Zealand bred Blind Raise in Saturday’s $3 million Caulfield Guineas.
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4–6 minutes
Coolmore and Chris Waller Racing name their Everest runners
Giga Kick will carry the Coolmore slot in The Everest and Joliestar runs for Chris Waller Racing, both confirmed on Wednesday for the 17 October sprint at Royal Randwick.
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5–8 minutes
Godolphin go to 4,600,000 guineas for Europe’s dearest yearling colt
A Night Of Thunder colt from Norelands made 4,600,000 guineas to Godolphin on the opening day of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale at Newmarket, a European record for a yearling colt.
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5–8 minutes
Ka Ying Rising beaten a neck in his Everest trial at Randwick
Ninja beat the champion sprinter by a neck in a Randwick barrier trial on Tuesday, and David Hayes says the soft ground and longer grass were against him.
More big races: Cox Plate · Breeders’ Cup · Melbourne Cup · New to racing