Sires With Winners - Wednesday April 2

While the Everest party for the glam sprinters is going full bore in Sydney, Melbourne will be decked out in full finery to celebrate the first of its two iconic and venerable Cups.

The Group One Caulfield Cup has a rich history and a well-earned reputation as one of the world’s toughest handicaps. It requires a special blend of stamina and class to win it, and horses sourced from New Zealand’s National Yearling Sales have shown that they have what it takes.

Agera’s coming-of-age campaign has carried him all the way up to black-type level, flying home to score a last-gasp victory in Friday’s Listed Team Wealleans Matamata Cup (1600m).

Melbourne Cup and Cox Plate favourite Sir Delius has been ruled out of both races after failing the pre-race scanning process.

Ellerslie has been the scene of some of El Vencedor’s most memorable performances, and Saturday’s Gr.1 Livamol Classic (2040m) could see the reigning New Zealand Horse of the Year become only the second horse to win four Group One races at the Auckland track.

The Inglis Ready 2 Race Sale on Thursday produced a glowing endorsement for the progeny of Written By through the eyes of Asian buyers with five offered and all of them sold to either Hong Kong or Malaysia at an average $256,000.

Two heats for juveniles at Warwick Farm on Friday morning produced a couple of interesting winners with a quinella for a pair of blueblood Wootton Bassett (GB) fillies and a smart win for a good looking colt by Ole Kirk.

Having ridden in six previous editions of The Everest (1200m) as well as multiple clashes with Ka Ying Rising in Hong Kong, jockey James McDonald has a good idea of what to expect when the world’s highest-rated sprinter makes his Australian debut in the A$20 million feature at Randwick on Saturday.

Breeze Ups for the world’s best sale of two-year-olds are set to take place next week on Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 October at Te Rapa Racecourse.

Are you a pedigree nerd? We’ve got something to make your day with five generation pedigrees for all 12 Everest runners offering a mine of information on the dozen sprinters looking to capture the world’s richest race on turf this Saturday at Randwick.