Less than 24 hours after drawing the outside gate for The Everest, Nature Strip has eased slightly in betting but remains an odds-on favourite to become only the second horse to win the $15 million showpiece twice.
The world’s highest ranked sprinter, Nature Strip came up with gate 12 at Tuesday night’s barrier draw, conducted using 500 drones that lit up the sky above Sydney Harbour.
Young gun Mazu has drifted from his opening TAB fixed odds quote of $13 on Wednesday to $17 after drawing immediately inside Nature Strip, while former Hong Kong galloper Joyful Fortune is a $51 chance after landing the rails.
Punters are warming to a wide draw for Nature Strip’s arch-rival Eduardo, who has been specked from $13 into $11 and will jump from barrier nine.
Lost And Running (barrier 7) and unbeaten three-year-old Giga Kick (barrier 5) have also been the subject of support, firming from $7 to $6 and $26 to $23 respectively.
Nature Strip’s trainer Chris Waller had no qualms with the wide gate and said regular rider James Mcdonald even felt an outside draw was preferable because it allowed the horse space and time to get into a rhythm.
“You just deal with the cards you’re dealt, and I don’t see barrier 12 as being negative at all,” Waller said on Sky Sports radio on Wednesday.
“James normally says openly that he’d prefer a bit of room so he can just go through his gears, cruise, be where he wants to be rather than dictated to, so if he happened to draw one, you have to push to hold your spot.
“From out wider, he doesn’t have that same pressure applied. He can go through his gears and do things right.”
Nature Strip can join Redzel (2017-18) as the only dual winner in the six-year history of the race, which has rapidly become the most anticipated event of the Sydney spring carnival.
Such has been the interest in this year’s renewal, Racing NSW chief executive Peter V’Landys says officials are expecting the largest Randwick crowd in modern-day history.
“It will be a sell out and probably the biggest crowd we have had since the retirement of that great mare Winx,” V’Landys told Sky Racing.
The ten races programmed for Randwick include the Silver Eagle (1300m) and Angst Stakes (1600m) which were added to The Everest card after being washed out last Saturday.