At some point during Saturday's inaugural running of the $10 million The Everest there is going to be a group of punters wanting to write off champion Chautauqua but his co-trainer Michael Hawkes says that's what makes him special.
The popular grey is a three-time Group I weight-for-age winning sprinter over Saturday's 1200m Randwick course and goes into the feature contest with the benchmark record of six Group I wins in the locker.
So what makes Chautauqua different? Hawkes, who trains the horse in partnership with his father John and brother Wayne, says it's his ability to overcome adversity.
It's no coincidence that the two races Hawkes used to highlight this trait are arguably the two wins the horse is best remembered for.
Think back to last year when Chautauqua went to Hong Kong to take on some of Asia's best in the Group I Hong Kong Chairman's Sprint, when he came from a hopeless position on the turn to reel in his opponents and record a memorable win.
"If you look every run he has, they are all kind of different in a way, it depends on how he's feeling," Hawkes said.
"One run that comes straight to mind is Hong Kong, everything went so wrong and it turned out so right. That's what probably makes him Chautauqua, he can do the unthinkable.
"Not a lot of people knew he threw two shoes in the mounting yard saddling him up. There was three, four, five of us swinging off his head trying to get the saddle on.
"It's things like that, that in the past he's overcome that makes him different and I suppose that's what makes him what he is."
Connections probably thought their memories of that Hong Kong victory would never be eclipsed, that was until Chautauqua lined up in this year's T.J Smith Stakes where he recorded one of the most amazing wins ever seen on an Australian racetrack.
"Look at last prep," Hawkes said. "We went outside the square and some wrote him off coming back from 1500m to the T.J (Smith Stakes – 1200m).
"During the run there was stages when people dipped their heads and thought this horse can't possibly win but that's what makes him."
Coincidence or by design? We'll never know because Chautauqua isn't Mister Ed, but one thing that is certain - in the past Chautauqua has saved his best for the big occasion and he's had no bigger occasion that Saturday's $10 million The Everest.
"He's like any athlete, it's like Usain Bolt, a swimmer or Winx for that matter, they are all strong when it counts," Hawkes said.
"The last 200m is where it counts and his last 200m is phenomenal, always has been and probably always will be.
"That's a trait that he's got that he really wants to hit the line, attack the line and he certainly still wants to be there because he's still doing that.
"He's still got that killer instinct, he's still got that will to win and he's a horse that in the past has produced something special in the big event.
"I think he's on a similar path and he's a horse that can do the unimaginable so you can never write him off."
Chautauqua is a $6 chance on Saturday but don't expect an easy ride.
Watch the grey flash produce an extraordinary win in the 2017 T.J Smith Stakes.
