Everest win will help Trapeze Artist climb to top of Black Opal heap

One win is all Trapeze Artist needs to become the highest earning Black Opal Stakes winner in history.

Just as long as that win comes in the $13 million Everest (1200 metres) at Randwick on Saturday.

Such is the prizemoney on offer in the second running of the world's richest race on turf, if the $9 fancy can salute against Australia's best sprinters he'll snare $6 million in prizemoney.

A win in The Everest will catapult Trapeze Artist to the highest earning Black Opal winner.

A win in The Everest will catapult Trapeze Artist to the highest earning Black Opal winner.

With wins in the $2.5 million TJ Smith Stakes and the Golden Rose, Trapeze Artist has already amassed $3.1 million in prizemoney.

An Everest win would see the Gerald Ryan-trained four-year-old leapfrog 2013 Black Opal winner Criterion to the top of the Opal prizemoney tree.

Criterion retired to stud in 2016 having earned $7.3 million, with group 1 wins in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Rosehill Guineas and the Australian Derby.

He also finished second in the 2015 Cox Plate.

The eight-year-old son of Sebring has clearly been the best performed Black Opal winner to date.

But that could all change in little over one minute on Saturday.

Trapeze Artist comfortably won the 2017 Black Opal, finishing three lengths clear of Trekking.

His Everest run continues Canberra's connection with the lucrative race after Matthew Dale's Fell Swoop ran in it last year.

Fell Swoop finished last, suffering thumps, or horse hiccups, during the race.

Despite the disappointment, Dale still said it was an exciting race to be involved in and he was looking forward to watching the second edition from Canberra.

Queanbeyan trainer Joe Cleary will experience that hype on Saturday.

His eight-year-old Coolring missed out on spot in the country NSW edition of The Everest, The Kosciuszko, but he's first emergency and could come in if there's a scratching before Saturday morning.

If he doesn't run then he'll go to Randwick next Saturday instead.

He'll still have two runners at Randwick, with Bart running in the Highway Handicap and Lucy Rose in the benchmark 78 handicap.

Cleary felt both were about the right odds – $31 and $16 respectively.

Not shy of having a good time, Cleary was looking forward to being part of Everest Day.

"Little bit disappointing we didn't get in, unlikely we will," he said on Friday.

"It's not all doom and gloom, it just would've been good to be a part of it because it's such a good concept, but the breaks didn't fall our way.

"It's great to be involved in such a big day, massive crowd."

Cleary said Bart was a nice horse, but a "bit of an unknown", while Lucy Rose was flying.

She'll head to the Thunderbolt on Queanbeyan Cup Day as her next run before travelling down to Melbourne for the listed Century Stakes (1000m) at Flemington on Oaks Day.

Damien Oliver will ride both Bart and Lucy Rose, and Cleary felt the latter's barrier 16 would help given the wet track.

"Bart's a bit of the unknown. He's a nice horse. He's very untapped. He's got a lot of ability, but one day he turns up and the next he doesn't so the penny's really got to drop," Cleary said.

"Lucy Rose is just flying. Things didn't go to plan in Queensland [in June] and she came back flying really well at Moruya [first up].

"I'm not afraid of barrier 16. At that time of the day I daresay the fence will be playing a little bit nasty so I daresay barrier 16 could be an advantage.

"Not every day you get the chance to have Damien Oliver ride your horses."

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