Tempted wins Premiere Stakes, emerging as key Everest contender

Tempted ensured she will be wearing Godolphin’s colours again in the $20 million Everest with another stunning win on Saturday and her team believe there is more to come when she steps up against Ka Ying Rising again.

A $1.60 favourite after an easy win in the Concorde Stakes (1000m), the four-year-old mare was even more impressive in the Premiere Stakes (1200m) on Saturday, storming to a three-length victory over the top of Savvy Hallie in the final Everest lead-in.

Tempted was runner-up last year to Ka Ying Rising and looms as the main challenger again to the Hong Kong superstar on October 17.

Godolphin Australia racing and bloodstock manager Jason Walsh said she would be racing in the powerhouse operation’s slot again.

“They are easy to watch like that,” Walsh said.

“She’s a special mare, there’s no doubt about that. It was lovely to see her do it that way.

“She’ll carry our colours and, as she did last year, when she carried them so well, and it’s pretty clear she’s in even better form, so we look forward to contesting the title again.

“She did last year, and she’s furnished mentally and physically this time. She’s getting close to the finished article and she’ll definitely make her presence felt in a couple of weeks.”

Trainer Ciaron Maher’s NSW assistant, Johann Gerard-Dubord, said Ka Ying Rising will need to be at his best to hold out Tempted.

“It’s a very good field, and she made them look like they’re nothing special, but it’s a genuine group one field,” Gerard-Dubord said.

“The way she quickens, which is her best asset, she is one of a kind. Everything she does is very special.

“She’ll have to be very special in two weeks, but we’ll be spot on for that. Ka Ying at his best, he’s very hard to beat, but he’ll have to be at his best.

“Every horse is beatable on a day, and there’s more there. She quickens very well, but every time she gets to the front, she still waits for them, so if she’s got something to chase for a bit longer, I think there’s a bit more there.”

Earlier, Inglis announced Stradbroke Handicap winner Spicy Martini as its Everest runner about the same time it emerged Golden Slipper winner Guest House was out for the spring.

Guest House was in line to fill the Everest slot of Coolmore, which paid about $30 million for the Home Affairs colt, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent jnr revealed the three-year-old had sustained a soft tissue injury to its near hind leg at trackwork on Saturday morning and would be spelled.

Inglis had already locked in Spicy Martini and announced the news at 1pm. An $8000 Inglis Digital buy for trainer Toby Edmonds and his partner Holly Penfold in March 2023 as a yearling, the five-year-old mare has won six times in just 13 starts and earned more than $2.7 million. She was beaten three-quarters of a length last start when fourth first-up in The Shorts (1100m) at Randwick two weeks ago. Regular jockey Taylor Marshall will keep ride, rounding off the all-Queensland team. Spicy Martini was $51 for the Everest before the announcement.

“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 CEO Sebastian Hutch said.

“She has run a new peak figure each start this year – including a group 1 victory in the Stradbroke - which tells us she is headed on an upward trajectory.”

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