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Talented Victorian sprinter Eduardo will start a bold campaign at Moonee Valley on Saturday that could take him all the way to a start in the $13 million Everest.
If he does pick up an Everest slot Eduardo will be the fairytale story of this year's race as he hails from the small Cranbourne stable of Sarah Zschoke and will have her partner Brian Park, a hard-working jockey who does the bulk of his riding on country tracks, as his rider.
Zschoke began training in 2012 and has had less than 100 starters in seven years. She has won only 13 races but has a star in the stable in Eduardo, a classy sprint prospect who has recorded three wins and four placings from eight starts and has already proven himself at Group One level.
The late developing Eduardo burst onto the scene as a 5YO last spring when he finished second in the G2 Gilgai Stakes at Flemington before winning the G2 Caulfield Sprint at just his sixth start.
He came back in the autumn for just two starts, finishing third first-up in the G1 Oakleigh Plate at Caulfield behind Booker and Encryption – leaving the likes of Viddora and Nature Strip in his wake – before disappointing in the G1 Newmarket at Flemington with his first unplaced performance prior to a spell.
He resumes on Saturday in the G2 McEwen Stakes (1000m) with Zschoke and Park mapping out an ambitious program aimed at claiming the Everest slot the Melbourne Racing Club is offering to the winner of the G2 Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield on October 12.
He has the $1 million Moir Stakes (1000m) under the lights at Moonee Valley on September 27 as his second spring race before running in the $400,000 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) where the winner will secure the MRC slot in The Everest (1200m) at Randwick seven days later on October 19.
Brian Park is the only jockey to have ridden Eduardo in his races and is confident he has the talent to measure up as a worthy Everest contender.
"He's really good. He's had a decent spell and he's come back in really good order," Park reported.
"He's got more muscle on him and we are hopeful he'll keep improving. He may be a six-year-old but he's still brand new at it.
"Sarah hasn't trialled him to have him fresh and ready to go in the McEwen."
Park, 38, has endured a chequered career since he won his only G1 race back in 2002 when he landed the Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide on Zip Zip Array.
He has had a constant battle with his weight and spent three years out of the saddle with a serious shoulder injury before returning to riding in 2017.
Zschoke received Eduardo to train as an unraced 3YO at the same time she and Park came together.
"It all happened at the time Brian came into my life and he's done all of Eduardo's gallops, trials and jumpouts," Zschoke said.
"Eduardo hasn't stopped amazing us and it looks like he's come back better than ever."
