The Anthony Freedman trained stablemates Shoals and Santa Ana Lane are progressing nicely towards the 2018 $13m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick on October 13.
Shoals, above in red and white colours, is progressing nicely towards The Everest at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Shoals will race in The Everest slot owned by The Star while Santa Ana Lane will run for Inglis in the richest race in the world on turf.
Both sprinters won three Group 1 races each during the 2017- 2018 racing season and both are well advanced in their Spring Carnival preparations and are ready to step out in a Cranbourne barrier trial next Monday.
Shoals won all her Group 1 trophies against the fillies and mares during her three year old year and will find the opposition a bit tougher when she lines up against the best open class sprinters in the land in The Everest.
Shoals first Group 1 victory was against the older mares in the $500,000 Myer Classic (1600m) at Flemington during the 2017 Melbourne Cup Carnival and then she claimed two more during the 2018 Autumn Carnival with a win against the fillies in the $500,000 Surround Stakes (1400m) at Randwick and then beat the mares again in the $1m Robert Sangster Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville.
Freedman will give Shoals two barrier trials before kicking off her Spring campaign in the either the Group 2 $200,000 Mitty’s McEwen Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on September 8 or in the Group 1 $500,000 Charter Keck Cramer Moir Stakes (1000m) at The Valley on September 28.
“She will run in either the McEwen or the Moir or both, depend on how we think she has come up,” Freedman told racing.com.
“She has had no problems so far and has done a good amount of ground work and she is now ready for the stronger part of the prep.”
“All going well she will trial next Monday at Cranbourne and I think she will probably need a second one after that.”
“She has probably bulked up a bit, I don’t think that she grown much. She is certainly strong where she needs to be, a great forearm and a great back end on her which is obviously what carries her through.”
“It is probably about her second gallop (this morning at Pinecliff) and we are just doing a little more each week. Trial next week and then probably trial a fortnight later.”
Freedman has Santa Ana Lane following a similar path as Shoals with two barrier trials pencilled in but the six year old will take a different road once he hits the race track.
“He is at a similar stage (as Shoals). The plan is for him to also go to Cranbourne next week and he will probably need a second and he may run around the end of August,” Freedman said.
“Certainly Santa Ana Lane will have two runs, the first one at Caulfield around the end of August and then another one in September somewhere.”
Santa Ana Lane joined the Group 1 winner’s club during the 2017 Melbourne Spring Carnival with a win in the $500,000 Keno Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield and then scored back to back Group 1 wins with victories in the $1m Darley Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville in May and then in the $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) at Doomben in June.
Early betting for The Everest at Ladbrokes.com.au has Santa Ana Lane marked at $11 with Shoals listed as a $15 chance while the Gerald Ryan trained Trapeze Artist heads the market order at $4.50.
Confirmed runners for the 2018 The Everest: Trapeze Artist (Aquis, slot holder), In Her Time (TAB), Redzel (Yulong Investments), Brave Smash (Chris Waller Racing), Shoals (The Star), English (Damion Flower), Santa Ana Lane (Inglis) and U S Navy Flag (Coolmore), Vega Magic (James Harron), three remaining slots yet to be filled.
Early betting for the 2018 The Everest at Ladbrokes.com.au: $4.50 Trapeze Artist, $6 Redzel, Nature Strip, Vega Magic, $9 Kementari, $11 U S Navy Flag, In Her Time, Santa Ana Lane, $15 Shoals, Brave Smash, $21 English, $26 Happy Clapper, $31 She Will Reign, $41 Winx, Showtime, $61 or better the rest.
