Rowe On Monday – A Japanese Everest shot, Bobbin’s UK plans on hold for Duke, and Godolphin’s new era starts well

In today’s Rowe On Monday, Tim Rowe reveals an emerging Australian-bred, Japanese-based sprinter might be on his way to The Everest, Andrew Bobbin has knocked back Cheltenham plans for his star jumper Duke Of Bedford, for now, and Godolphin’s new era begins well.

Everest on radar for Invincible Papa

Emerging Japanese sprinter Invincible Papa, an Australian-bred son of Shalaa, is suddenly given a growing chance of returning to his birth country for a tilt at the nation’s most lucrative race.

The Daishi Ito-trained Invincible Papa made it two black type wins from three starts this calendar year with a victory in Sunday’s Grade 3 CBC Sho at Chukyo, with the performance on turf helping his cause for a tilt at this year’s The Everest at Royal Randwick in October.

Such has been the five-year-old’s (to southern hemisphere time) rapid rise through the ranks – he has won six of his 10 starts – that Everest slot holders are circling to have him as their rival up against Hong Kong superstar and race favourite Ka Ying Rising.

Inglis, which for the past two years has leased its Everest slot to the Entain-controlled New Zealand Trackside Media, is believed to be the frontrunner to have Invincible Papa representing the auction house in the $20 million race.

Aussie sprinters are something else hey….

G3 1200m CBC Sho at Chukyo:

Won from Gate 17 by 4c INVINCIBLE PAPA (Shalaa x Shwaimsa (Canford Cliffs)) x Daisuke Sasaki

1.07.4 for 6F

Bred by @ArrowfieldStud

Won 5 from 8 on Dirt, first win on Turf !pic.twitter.com/eO7G2OpO6x

— Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) August 10, 2025

Importantly for Inglis, Invincible Papa was a $200,000 Easter Yearling Sale purchase by Japan’s Mikako Sakota of Inc Macys from Arrowfield Stud’s draft in 2023. 

Providing quarantine protocols can be met, we understand that Invincible Papa would travel to Sydney for The Everest before heading on to Sha Tin for the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint at the international meeting in December.

If The Everest preparation falls by the wayside, the Breeders’ Cup in early November looms as a likely back-up option for Invincible Papa.

The sprinter’s dam Shwaimsa is now owned by Bert Vieira who has Trapeze Artist and Sweet Ride standing at Widden Stud.

Invincible Papa’s sire Shalaa, who shuttled from France to Arrowfield Stud, now stands at Eddie Hirsch’s Woodside Park Stud in Victoria.

No northern exposure for Duke Of Bedford 

While Invincible Papa could return to Australia, international horizons have been put on hold for talented jumper Duke Of Bedford.

Victorian trainer Andrew Bobbin will resist royal overtures to take on the world’s best steeple chasers at iconic UK courses Aintree and Cheltenham with his star jumper, the seven-year-old gelding Duke Of Bedford.

But that’s not to say Bobbin won’t give in to temptation in 12 months’ time by campaigning his reigning Grand Annual winner in the UK in 2027 if Duke Of Bedford continues his jumps dominance in Victoria again next season.

In line to be officially crowned Australia’s premier jumper at a Racing Australia Horse of the Year function in Queensland later this month, Duke Of Bedford completed the Brierly-Grand Annual double at Warrnambool during the autumn, with his 12-length romp sparking interest from international observers.

Bobbin wouldn’t reveal the identity of the benefactor of Duke Of Bedford’s possible northern hemisphere jaunt, but it’s understood that the horse’s name and his feats are said to have captured the attention of British royalty.

The jumper’s sire Tavistock, who stood at Cambridge Stud after winning two Group 1s in New Zealand and a Group 2 Blamey Stakes in Australia in 2009/10, was bred by Lady Tavistock Henrietta Bedford’s Bloomsbury Stud.

Despite the lure of the UK’s big jumping festivals, Bobbin confirmed Duke Of Bedford would be aimed at the Warrnambool May Carnival again next year.

“There was talk of somebody to potentially take him over, and whilst it was enticing, it just doesn’t time out right for him for 2026,” Bobbin told this column during trackwork at his private training facility in Victoria’s Grampians on Monday.

“You’ve got to be on your game, you don’t want to go there half, only half prepared, so if we were to have a good Warrnambool next year, then that’s definitely something that we’ll look to do the year after.”

As daunting a task as taking on the might of equine talent at the disposal of top British and Irish jumps trainers Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls, Dan Skelton and Nicky Henderson would be, Bobbin believes the layout of Cheltenham could suit Duke Of Bedford if he was to make the trip north.

“I was surprised that there wasn’t as many as jumps as, in a Grand Annual here, you have 33 jumps over the 5,500 metres, I can’t give you the exact number of jumps in their Gold Cup (22), but there’s nowhere near as many as what we have at Warrnambool, and, of course, at Warrnambool we go up the hill twice, whilst at Cheltenham it’s a flat track,” he said. 

“But they’re the world’s best jumpers, and I dare say our horses are a fair way behind those … so he’d have to have a couple of runs in England before heading there. It’s a long way off.”

Duke of Bedford annihilates his opposition with an emphatic victory in the Grand Annual Steeplechase @grampiansracing pic.twitter.com/tyySerJ9jB

— Racing.com (@Racing) May 1, 2025

Bobbin was part of an Australian travelling pack who attended this year’s Cheltenham Festival and he loved every minute.

“You can’t compare anything to the 70,000 people (at Cheltenham) every day, and I think nearly all of them were racing fanatics, they knew all about the horses, as opposed to, say, a spring carnival meeting we see here, where probably 80 per cent of the crowd are there for a day out socially and putting a nice dress on,” Bobbin said. 

“I think everybody at Cheltenham were there as racing purists. So, gee, if you had the right horse, it’d be a great experience to take one there.”

Godolphin old and new in the winners’ circle

The new racing season is just 11 days old, but the winners for Godolphin-associated horses, past and present, continue to roll in.

In Brisbane on Saturday, tried horses Razors (Jack Bruce) and Amur (Tony Gollan) won at Eagle Farm for new owners while Tony and Calvin McEvoy maintained their perfect record for Godolphin with Options’ debut win at Echuca on Sunday.

The Ballarat (and now Flemington) based trainers prepared three-year-old Impending colt Options to win a 1200-metre maiden after coming from last under jockey Harry Coffey.

His win came just three days after Immerse, a three-year-old by Frosted, won first-up at Ballarat, also with Coffey in the saddle.

Meanwhile, Razors won nearly a third of his purchase price back first-up in a 1400-metre class 3 just weeks after Bruce, High Calibre Racing and agent Jim Clarke paid $135,000 for him through the July Inglis Digital Sale.

Amur has been in the Gollan system a bit longer, having been sold in February by Godolphin via Inglis Digital for $85,000.