New Zealand horses I Wish I Win and Joliestar lead Everest market

New Zealand horses head the market for the A$20 million (NZ$22,050,000) Everest in Sydney on Saturday after last night’s barrier draw.

The Kiwi-owned pair of I Wish I Win and Joliestar are the two favourites for the 1200m slot race which will be run as a Group 1 for the first time.

I Wish I Win, who runs in the slot named Trackside Media but operated by Entain/TAB, is the $5 favourite after drawing barrier 9 while Joliestar, owned by Brendan and Jo Lindsay of Cambridge Stud, was the $6 second elect after drawing barrier 4.

I Wish I Win’s barrier doesn’t look ideal but he tends to settle no better than midfield and with the Randwick track rated heavy yesterday it could still be soft by Saturday so wider barrier draws could play well.

I Wish I Win ran second in the Everest last year from barrier 1 but was trapped back on the rail and didn’t get clear racing room until late so his wider barrier for Saturday suits better.

Joliestar is still a newcomer to the open sprinting ranks but barrier 4 is ideal and what owner Brendan Lindsay was hoping for.

It should ensure champion jockey James McDonald is able to keep her handy without fear of being pushed down to the rail and she should be tracking the leaders in midfield, or closer, waiting to pounce.

Joliestar wins the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (1200m) at Royal Randwick in April. Photo / bradleyphotos.com.au

Whether the inside barriers or those wider are preferred come race start time could be determined by the weather, including right up to race start time.

Both the barriers drawn by the New Zealand pair have produced Everest winners since the slot race started in 2017.

Yes Yes Yes won from barrier 9 in 2019 while Nature Strip, another with heavy New Zealand connections, drew barrier 10 when he won for McDonald and trainer Chris Waller in 2021.

Joliestar’s barrier four was the same one Redzel used to win the inaugural Everest in 2017 while the race has been won by horses drawn in barrier 5 in the past two years.

The field for the A$20 million Everest at Randwick on Saturday, in racebook order, is:

I Wish I Win (barrier 9), Giga Kick (3), Private Eye (10), Bella Nipotina (12), I Am Me (1), Steffi Magnetica (6), Sunshine In Paris (8), Joliestar (4), Growing Empire (7), Traffic Warden (2), Storm Boy (5), Lady Of Camelot (11).

There are four emergencies for the Everest should one of the 12 acceptors be scratched and that horse would take the scratched horse’s barrier.

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.