Colt Has Boss Screaming Yes Yes Yes
Yes Yes Yes, the youngest horse in the race with Glen Boss, the oldest jockey, came together for the first time in the $14 million Everest at Randwick yesterday and stormed home to grab the $14 million race by the throat halfway up the home straight and at $9 he held on grimly to beat the late charging Santa Ana Lane ($5 equal fav.) and the Godolphin owner Trekking ($25) a solid third.
And on pulling up Boss declared that winning the world’s richest race on turf was easily equal as winning his three Melbourne cups on Makybe Diva. “I’m shaking, a tearful Boss said as he brought Yes Yes Yes back to scale. I just want to thank Chris Waller for having faith in me. It is an unbelievable feeling, he was always travelling like a winner and when I asked him for the big effort he had the race in his keeping very quickly.”
Yes Yes Yes, formerly trained in Melbourne by disqualified trainer Darren Weir was racing very well but some doubted his determination to win after he finished a close second to Bivouac after he got his head in front but allowed the winner to outfight him. Yesterday Waller opted to put Blinkers back on the three-year-old and it, as it often does, made all the difference.
The race was run at a hectic speed and it was no surprise that Yes Yes Yes recorded 1.07.7.32 which edged past the Randwick 1200 metres record previously held by yesterday’s runner-up, Santa Ana Lane. It was an emphatic win by a very good colt whose value as a future stallion is now well into the six-figure mark. He is from the first crop of the brilliant young horse Rubrick.
While all honors belonged to the winner, Santa Ana Lane was superb in finishing second after being held up for a run rounding the home turn. From barrier two, Santa Ana Lane was always going to be a backmarker and jockey Mark Zahra had difficulty getting a clear run approaching the home turn. When the horse forced his way into the clear he charged home but the colt had established a winning break.
Several horses raced below their best, most notably the star Perth mare Arcadia Queen, pictured above, who was solidly backed into equal favourite. Jockey James McDonald had the mare travelling comfortably on the rails behind the speed on settling and the mare looked to be travelling like a potential winner when McDonald eased her three wide on the turn where she was poised to go after the tearaway leader, Nature Strip.
But instead of producing her customary hard finish she dropped out very quickly. A veterinary report will reveal if she suffered any problem.
The well fancied Pierata also never came into the race and may be at his best on wet ground.
Nature Strip showed all the speed expected of him but hit a brick wall halfway up the tough Randwick run home while Sunlight was also a victim of setting a cracking pace and dropped out in the straight.
Yes Yes Yes had won a mere $575,450 before yesterday’s $6 million first prize.
Patrick Bartley