Victorian sprinter Skybird, the reigning Black Caviar Lightning Stakes winner, has secured a place in this year’s The Everest for trainer Mitch Freedman.
Auction house Inglis has selected the daughter of Exosphere, a $110,000 Classic Yearling Sale graduate, three weeks out from the $20 million race at Randwick on October 18.
“Mitch Freedman is a young trainer that the market has a lot of respect for and he has been very patient in his development of this filly,” Inglis Bloodstock chief executive Sebastian Hutch said.
“She is unexposed, progressive and shaping as a candidate to produce a career best at Randwick on Everest day.”
Skybird, who ran sixth first-up in the Moir Stakes, will contest Friday’s Manikato Stakes as her final lead-up run to The Everest.
“We all go to the yearling sales with a dream of finding a horse like her,” Freedman said.
“To purchase a horse like Skybird, bring her through our system and to now to be a part of the most elite sprinting race in our country, if not the world, truly is an honour.”
Australian-bred Japanese sprinter Invincible Papa, a son of Shalaa who won at Grade 3 level in August, had also been considered as a contender for the Inglis slot.
The decision by Inglis to side with Skybird, 24 hours after rival slot holder James Harron Bloodstock signed up Angel Capital, leaves just three openings remaining for this year’s race.
Coolmore is yet to make a call on its slot, as is Godolphin, which has Golden Rose favourite Tempted and fellow three-year-old Tentyris as leading homebred candidates to represent it in The Everest.
Mike Gregg's Mulberry Racing is also yet to fill its slot.
