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| Staff Writer |
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Yulong Investments, who celebrated Everest success in 2018 with Redzel running in its slot, have secured Eduardo for their 2022 Everest slot.
The gelding owned by N Cresci & Miss J Kaufmann will make his third Everest attempt. In his two Everest attempts to date, Eduardo has finished 11th behind Classique Legend in 2020 and third behind Nature Strip and Masked Crusader last year.
His selection means the trifecta from the 2021 Everest has now been snapped up.
He downed Nature Strip in the Challenge Stakes in March then ran second to his great rival in Gr.1 TJ Smith Stakes in the autumn and Pride believes not racing the gelding in Brisbane this year will give him his best chance to finally climb the mountain.
The plan for the spring is for Eduardo to have two runs leading into the Everest, as opposed to just the one in 2021, and he’ll likely kick off in the Gr.3 Concorde Stakes (1000m) on September 3 before attempting to defend the Gr. 2 The Shorts (1100m) two weeks later.
Pride said that the program will both compensate for the long spell and ensure he can have a month between runs going into the TAB Everest and then once again tackle the A$1m Nature Strip Stakes (1300m) on Golden Eagle Day.
Troy Stephens, the Racing, Sales, and Nominations Manager for Yulong, said Eduardo has been consistently one of the best sprinters in Australia, and all concerned are rapt to have him secured early.
On the back of Mazu being selected by the Star and Arrowfield on Wednesday, one-third of the TAB Everest field has now been locked in, five months out from the nation’s premier sprint race.