Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything
Despite The Everest being four months away, the anticipation for the 2023 edition started the moment Giga Kick (Scissor Kick) triumphed in 2022 at Randwick.
Then in April, the G1 TJ Smith S., a jewel in the autumn racing carnival, attracted a hot field of super sprinters; among them was the reigning Everest champ, Giga Kick, the Champion Nature Strip (Nicconi), who had also successfully scaled The Everest in 2021 and the up-and-comer I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel).
The Peter Moody-trained and Waikato Stud-bred 4-year-old gelding had taken the $10 million Golden Eagle over 1500 metres in the spring of 2022. I Wish I Win, returning for an autumn preparation, the son of the multiple Champion Sire Savabeel was being campaigned as a sprinter, which confused some.
I Wish I Win returned with slashing runs in the G1 Lighting S. and the G1 Newmarket H. down the Flemington straight and ventured to Sydney as a bit of an unknown regarding his sprinting capabilities in the presence of Nature Strip and Giga Kick.
However, it took 1:11.97s for people to realise I Wish I Win was a truly elite galloper and would make his presence felt in The Everest if his connections elected to head that way.
Everest selection confirmed
After months of uncertainty and will he or won’t he, it was confirmed on Friday the budding superstar would contest the $20 million The Everest.
The 2023 edition will also welcome a new slot holder to the mix for this year. Trackside Media, who recently partnered with an agreement with Entain, has secured the use of the Inglis slot for 2023.
Naturally, the New Zealand-based company wanted a New Zealand-bred product to represent them.
Cameron Rodger
In a press release Entain New Zealand’s Managing Director, Cameron Rodger, said securing a slot in The Everest on behalf of Trackside was a significant moment and was an opportunity to celebrate the New Zealand thoroughbred racing and breeding industries.
“We have obviously watched the growth of The Everest in Australia for a number of years; however, wagering performance and engagement on the race in New Zealand has remained under-indexed,” Rodger said.
“In what we hope will be the first year of many being involved in The Everest, we look forward to working closely with Racing NSW to get all Kiwis engaged in The Everest to cheer on one of our very own in I Wish I Win.”
“To have the chance to not only be part of it but to go across with a New Zealand-bred superstar in I Wish I Win and with a legitimate chance to win is an absolute thrill for all the team at Entain.
“To have the chance to not only be part of it but to go across with a New Zealand-bred superstar in I Wish I Win and with a legitimate chance to win is an absolute thrill for all the team at Entain.” - Cameron Rodger
“New Zealand has a very proud racing heritage, but for a number of years the industry has been underfunded and losing ground. As we have seen with the recent increases in stakes money, as a result of the new strategic agreement with Entain, we are ready to kick back in a big way.”
Chittick over the moon
The news for Waikato Stud principal Mark Chittick is equally satisfying for the stud, industry, and I Wish I Win.
After a patchy start to life, with a story many would be well versed in now, it is proving to be a little obstacle for the stunning near-black gelding.
Mark Chittick | Image courtesy of Trish Dunell
“It’s been a pretty intense couple of months after I Wish I Win won the TJ Smith and became a serious contender, and for a while, there rated the best sprinter in the world,” Chittick told TTR AusNZ.
“First of all, learning how this The Everest situation operated has been a hell of a process. We have been approached and spoken through the bits and pieces with numerous people. Look, honestly, it’s been a great process, and I’ve appreciated all the interest and approaches from multiple slotholders for the horse, but certainly, once a New Zealand influence came about, it was a good situation.
“It was a strategic move for all of us. Trackside backed by Entain now in New Zealand; it’s great timing and has just worked out perfectly, I think.”
Chittick admits it wasn’t any secret that if a New Zealand influence hadn’t turned up, I Wish I Win probably would not have been in the race.
“There would have been a lot of partnerships that worked, but the New Zealand effect swayed us that way,” Chittick told TTR AusNZ.
“It was a strategic move for all of us. There would have been a lot of partnerships that worked, but the New Zealand effect swayed us that way.” - Mark Chittick
“The whole background story, everybody knows. But I Wish I Win is a horse that has been reared under New Zealand conditions, and I certainly think it has helped him. He has never been put under any pressure. I Wish I Win is just a horse that has had the will to live from day 1, and when he got on the racetrack, he’s shown a will to win.
“We are incredibly privileged to be given a horse like this and go through the process. When I Wish I Win went to Australia, we had no expectations of these sorts of heights, and now, to be involved in this, it’s just incredibly mind-blowing.”
It’s easy to get swayed into the New Zealand versus Australia rhetoric. However, Chittick sees the bigger picture and takes a pragmatic approach.
“We are a small country (New Zealand) of very good and strong breeders. From the New Zealand thoroughbred point-of-view, whether it’s horse or human, we’ve had a lot of heroes worldwide in the past and present.
“But to have an opportunity to be racing in a race like The Everest and be part of the Australian industry. We (Waikato) don’t see it as New Zealand and Australia; we see it as Australasia and Australian racing as the best in the world.
“... to have an opportunity to be racing in a race like The Everest and be part of the Australian industry. We (Waikato) don’t see it as New Zealand and Australia; we see it as Australasia and Australian racing as the best in the world.” - Mark Chittick
“To have a horse like I Wish I Win who is good enough to compete at this level, we are unbelievably proud of him as a family.”
