Everest Field 2026: Confirmed Runners and Open Slots

The 2026 TAB Everest field has five confirmed runners after Inglis locked in Stradbroke winner Spicy Martini on Saturday. On the same day Tempted strengthened her claim on Godolphin’s slot with a three-length Premiere Stakes win, and Golden Slipper winner Guest House was ruled out of the spring with injury. Here is where all 12 slots stand two weeks out from the $20 million sprint at Royal Randwick on October 17.

The 10th running of The Everest is a 1200m weight-for-age race for three-year-olds and up, worth $20 million with $7 million to the winner, according to the official race conditions published by Racing NSW. Each of the 12 slot holders picks its own runner, and final declarations close at 10am on Tuesday, October 13.

Everest field: the five confirmed runners

Ka Ying Rising
Slot holder: Hong Kong Jockey Club
Trainer: David Hayes
Jockey: Zac Purton
Confirmed: 18 September

Ninja
Slot holder: Fairway Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Michael Freedman
Jockey: TBC
Confirmed: 5 September

Headwall
Slot holder: Max Whitby, Neil Werrett, Col Madden & Steve McCann
Trainer: Matthew Smith
Jockey: TBC
Confirmed: 22 September

Blue Door
Slot holder: Newgate & GPI Racing
Trainer: Bjorn Baker
Jockey: TBC
Confirmed: 28 September

Spicy Martini
Slot holder: Inglis
Trainer: Toby Edmonds
Jockey: Taylor Marshall
Confirmed: 3 October

Spicy Martini (Inglis): Sky Racing announced the deal just after 1pm (AEST) on Saturday. Edmonds bought the mare as a yearling on Inglis Digital for $8000, and she has since won six of her 13 starts and more than $2.7 million, The Straight reported. She won the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap in June and resumed with a close fourth, beaten 0.7 lengths, behind Mazu in The Shorts on September 19.

“We have had an eye on her for some time and believe she is capable of posting a career best effort in The Everest,” Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said, as reported by Just Horse Racing. Managing owner Holly Penfold added: “We bought this horse on Inglis Digital for $8000, she’s already won us $2.7m from 13 starts and now she’s running in a $20m race.” Taylor Marshall, who rode her to her Stradbroke win, keeps the ride.

Ka Ying Rising (Hong Kong Jockey Club): The defending champion runs in the club’s slot again, the Hong Kong Jockey Club confirmed. He has won his past 21 starts, the latest in a Sha Tin track-record 1:06.11 in the Chief Executive’s Cup on September 6. “I say conservatively he is 10 per cent better,” trainer David Hayes told Racing NSW after the gelding arrived in Sydney. He has a barrier trial at Randwick on Tuesday, October 6, under Zac Purton. TSB covered his Sydney preparation last month.

Blue Door (Newgate and GPI Racing): John Singleton’s three-year-old filly won the Group 3 Heritage Stakes at Rosehill on September 26, and Newgate and GPI Racing confirmed her for their slot days later. “She is naturally very fast, she’s in outstanding form, and three-year-olds have such a strong record in the race,” Newgate’s Henry Field said. Singleton noted she will carry only 51kg. More on how Blue Door won her slot.

Headwall and Ninja: Matthew Smith’s seven-year-old Headwall was confirmed for the Whitby, Werrett, Madden and McCann slot in September after a year off with a bone chip, The Straight reported. He was second to Tempted in the Concorde Stakes and fifth in The Shorts. Michael Freedman’s four-year-old Ninja was the first local horse confirmed, through John Camilleri’s Fairway Thoroughbreds, as 7NEWS reported in early September. He won the Missile Stakes first-up in August but ran ninth in The Shorts. Both were scratched from Saturday’s Premiere Stakes on race morning, Racing NSW scratchings show, so neither has raced since The Shorts.

Open slots: who could they pick?

Godolphin: Tempted, second to Ka Ying Rising last year, did everything asked of her at Randwick on Saturday. She beat Savvy Hallie by three lengths in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m), with Marhoona third, for her ninth win from 14 starts, races.com.au reported. Godolphin’s Jason Walsh had described the slot as “really hers to lose”, according to Racing and Sports, and Racing NSW reported Godolphin was expected to confirm her soon after the race. “I can’t wait to aim her at Ka Ying Rising,” jockey Chad Schofield said after the win (via Racing NSW). Earlier in the week Walsh told the Sydney Morning Herald that Beiwacht’s Manikato run had “cemented Tempted, I suspect, as our No.1 seed, without pre-empting what happens next”. Reports differ on whether her place has already been formally locked in, so she is listed here as expected rather than confirmed.

Chris Waller Racing: Joliestar is widely expected to take her trainer’s slot again. Racing NSW reported that expectation on September 22, and the Sydney Morning Herald said she was “seemingly on course” for it after she went down by a neck to Mazu in The Shorts on September 19. The slot has not been formally confirmed.

Yulong: Angel Capital finally won a Group 1 in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on September 19. Yulong racing manager Danny Rolston told The Thoroughbred Report that “the Everest is firmly in the discussion. We’re not locking him in right now, as we’ll see how he’s come through the run and it’ll certainly be one of the options on the table.” Yulong has not announced a pick since.

Coolmore: Guest House had been the leading option for Coolmore’s slot, but the Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr stable advised Racing NSW on Saturday that the colt suffered a soft tissue injury to his near hind leg at trackwork that morning and will be spelled. “He’s basically done a hammy, but we’ll get him back,” Price said, according to Betsy. Coolmore has not named a replacement. In August, Betsy listed Central Europe as another Coolmore option.

TAB: Betsy reported in August that the TAB had locked on to Autumn Glow, but her connections chose the King Charles III Stakes on the same day instead, as Racenet reported (and TSB covered). The TAB ran Jimmysstar in its slot last year, according to racing.com. No 2026 pick has been reported.

James Harron: No runner has been named. In August, Betsy reported Harron would start with horses racing in his own colours, and suggested 2022 Everest winner Giga Kick could top the lists of the slot holders still looking. Giga Kick ran eighth in the Manikato Stakes on September 27. Two other names in that report, Headwall and Spicy Martini, have since gone to other slots.

Mulberry Racing: Mulberry joined the slot holders last year on a three-year deal, replacing The Star, according to Just Racing. It ran its own horse, Jedibeel, in 2025, as Betsy reported at the time, and has not publicly named a 2026 runner.

The horses still chasing a start

Jimmysstar (Ciaron Maher): Third in last year’s Everest, he came from last to win the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Caulfield on September 27 (official result). “The Everest, probably, certainly heading that way on the big track at Randwick,” Maher told racing.com. He does not have a slot yet. Read our Manikato report.
Mazu (Joseph Pride): Won The Shorts, but Pride told the Sydney Morning Herald: “It’s not my call, really. It’s the owner’s call.” He added: “I want to go where I can win.” He ran 10th in the Premiere on Saturday, and ANZ Bloodstock News reported on Saturday that he is not Everest-bound this season.
Charm Stone (Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr): Before the Manikato, Price asked the Sydney Morning Herald: “What happens if she does win, is there a slot there?” She ran third, with Extragalactic second.
Caballus (Bjorn Baker): Baker told Racing NSW the Newmarket Handicap winner could make his own case in the Premiere. He finished fifth.

Potential Everest field

Here is how the field could look on the confirmed runners and the most widely reported picks. Only the first five are locked in.

Ka Ying Rising (Hong Kong Jockey Club), confirmed
Ninja (Fairway Thoroughbreds), confirmed
Headwall (Whitby, Werrett, Madden and McCann), confirmed
Blue Door (Newgate and GPI Racing), confirmed
Spicy Martini (Inglis), confirmed
Tempted (Godolphin), expected but not yet confirmed
Joliestar (Chris Waller Racing), expected but not yet confirmed
Angel Capital (Yulong), under consideration
Coolmore: to be decided after Guest House’s injury
TAB: to be decided
James Harron: to be decided
Mulberry Racing: to be decided

Jimmysstar is the highest-profile horse still without a slot. After the Premiere, races.com.au reported Ladbrokes had Ka Ying Rising at $1.35 and Tempted at $6 for The Everest. Form for all the contenders is in our free Racing Form Guide.

Key dates

Tuesday, October 6: Ka Ying Rising’s barrier trial at Randwick.
Tuesday, October 13 (10am): Final declarations close. Up to six emergencies can be named by the Everest Committee from horses accepted for the $2 million Sydney Stakes.
Saturday, October 17: The TAB Everest (1200m), Royal Randwick. The official site still lists the race time as TBC.

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