It's taken only five years for the Golden Eagle – the richest turf race in the world between 1200m and 2000m – to become a star on the international stage.
Won last year's by the brilliant Japanese raider Obamburamai, the 2024 edition goes to a new level with G1 winners from Japan and France among four northern hemisphere-trained representatives.
While $20 million makes The Everest the richest turf race in the world, it is yet to attract an international sprinter as slot holders prefer to put their faith in the local product.
While we can expect that to change as soon as next year, the $10 million on offer for the Golden Eagle, restricted to four-year-olds and run at weight-for-age, has clearly become an attraction too good to ignore for overseas stables.
The quality of the four runners from north of the Equator assures the eyes of the racing world will be focused on Rosehill in anticipation that much of the big prizemoney pot will be heading to Asia and/or Europe. Let's not forget that all runners represent a nominated charity with 10 percent of any prizemoney won - $1 million in total - going to worthy causes.
It's hard to deny that Japanese mare ASCOLI PICENO and France's unbeaten LAZZAT are G1 performers of the highest quality. While they meet six Australian G1 winners, they boast ratings that place them on a higher plane with many projecting they will dominate the local opposition.
ASCOLI PICENO has won four of her six starts, posted a G1 win as a 2YO and was unlucky to lose this year's G1 NHK Mile (Obamburamai finished third last year). She almost fell when travelling like a winner at the 250m but recovered to surge home for an impressive second.
She subsequently showed a dazzling turn of foot to overcome a wide passage and run away with a G3 over 1600m at Nakayama in September as her prep race for the Golden Eagle.
Significantly ASCOLI PICENO has never raced on anything worse than a good surface, starting once over 1400m before running five times over 1600m in races where the winning times are rarely equalled in Australia. The winning times in her last four 1600m starts were sub 1.32.60 and included her last start win in a mind boggling 1.30.80 – that's almost two seconds quicker than the Randwick course record for 1600m.
Despite her wide gate she really only has to bring that form to Rosehill and the rest are racing for the minor prizemoney. The leveller is the track rating which dipped into the soft range on Friday after overnight rain.
Enter the unbeaten French star LAZZAT. Six wins from six starts from 1300m to 1500m with five recorded on soft and heavy surfaces says he is the one to beat if the track is genuinely affected.
LAZZAT has really never been challenged in any of his wins, having won his six starts by a combined total of 20 lengths including his last start success by a soft three lengths in the G1 Prix Maurice De Gheest over 1300m at Deauville.
He is the one with the superior tactical speed to hold an on pace position from the start and from a middle barrier draw should get a positive ride from his French jockey Antonio Orani. It will be Orani's first ride in Australia but he has partnered LAZZAT in all his six starts and that understanding of the horse is a big positive.
The other overseas runners are Japan's CORAZON BEAT and LAKE FOREST from the UK stables of the respected William Haggas.
CORAZON BEAT, the winner of three of her eight starts in Japan, finished third behind ASCOLO PISCENO in a G1 at Hanshin last December but was well beaten behind that mare last time at Nakayama. She was checked out of it in the straight but was a beaten horse at the time.
LAKE FOREST is a G1 placegetter in the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and won the G2 Gimcrack Stakes at York last year but is an unknown quantity at the Golden Eagle distance as all his seven starts have been over 1207m. He is the hardest horse to assess as Haggas doesn't send his horses to Australia for no reason, evidenced by his superb record of nine wins from his 27 starters in Sydney.
There is little to separate the leading Australian contenders on form and ratings. Everest form is a good starting point with JOLIESTAR the one to put in the best trial for the Golden Eagle with her surging drive through the line to finish seventh but only 1.6 lengths from the winner in a blanket finish.
She's a Thousand Guineas winner over 1600m and is set for a big rebound from the Everest on her home track.
Stradbroke winner STEFI MAGNETICA also comes through the Everest while SOUTHERN TYCOON, a dual G1 winner of the Australian Guineas and Manikato Stakes, and the G1 Champion Stakes winner TOM KITTEN are the top raters in this distance range.
GOLDEN EAGLE SELECTIONS: ASCOLI PICENO; Joliestar; Lazzat; Southern Tycoon; Tom Kitten; Stefi Magnetica
