The build-up to the Everest gets bigger every year, and long may it continue. As a form race, it always stands up, and you can back the horses from it in everything they contest. This should be especially true this year, because at least three quarters of the field ran as well as they could, with only one real disappointment in the race.

THINK ABOUT IT (1^st)

Everyone loves a winner, and Think About It is certainly that. He looked to be the “map” horse after the barrier draw given his two main dangers, I Wish I Win and Private Eye, had drawn gates that could put them in sticky situations – which is exactly what happened.

Think About It drew to get the run of the race, jockey Sam Clipperton gave him the run of the race, and the horse was good enough to take advantage of it.

It will be fascinating to see what the future holds for this So You Think gelding – will he be kept to sprint trips, or pushed out to a mile or even beyond? He’s won at 1350m twice, and the only time he has raced at 1400m he won the Stradbroke easily.

I WISH I WIN (2^nd)

All the pre-race talk was whether barrier one would prove good or bad for I Wish I Win. Would he be able to settle handier than in the TJ Smith when he rounded up the field from last? If he did sit handier, would he still be able to sprint as quickly? Most importantly, would he have enough room in the straight when it was go time?

It was not a particularly hard run Everest, and Luke Nolen positioned him bang on midfield, and gave him as good a steer as his backers could hope for. He did have to angle around horses at the 200m, but without costing himself any momentum, and if he had drawn wider he would have been further back.

If anything, a lack of stronger tempo has cost him the race, not the barrier. He’s an outstanding sprinter and will be hard to beat in anything he contests.

PRIVATE EYE (3^rd)

Private Eye is probably Australia’s most versatile elite galloper, having won multiple Group races at 1600m and now been placed in two Everest’s at 1200m.

He was one horse that mapped awkwardly after drawing barrier nine, and it always seemed likely he would be caught three wide if electing to settle midfield, which is what happened. Still, he is a horse that does love galloping room, and he has proven he can win races from out there before.

Private Eye couldn’t quite explode as we know he can after that wide run, and he ran well without ever looking likely to catch his stablemate, and I Wish I Win ran past him with a superior turn of foot after being smothered away.

IN SECRET (4^th)

In Secret had her doubters coming into the Everest after not being able to win a race as a four-year-old mare after her outstanding three-year-old season, but she left having put in the run of the race.

She was always going to go back from the widest barrier, which was going to make it tough, and she was still last with 300m to go before running the best closing fractions of the race. It was a superb run to be only beaten a length in the end, and it’s an easy case to make that had she drawn well and settled just worse than midfield, she would have run the race. James Cummings prepared his mare beautifully.

CYLINDER (5^th)

Cylinder didn’t look to have quite the class to win an Everest, while always going to give an honest account of himself, and that’s how the race played out. If anything, he exceeded expectations to only go down a length, finishing just behind his fast-finishing Godolphin stablemate.

He had every chance in the run, sitting inside eventual winner Think About It, and the four horses that beat him home are the top of the tree when it comes to sprinters in this country. If Cylinder presses onto the Coolmore Stud Stakes on Derby Day, he will be very, very hard to beat.

HAWAII FIVE OH (6^th)

Hawaii Five Oh was another who put his best foot forward, and connections can be mighty pleased with getting beaten just over two lengths in an elite sprint such as this. Especially given this horse will likely prove to be more a 1400m horse than pure sprinter.

James McDonald gave him a great ride from a wide draw, and had him in plenty of clear air once they straightened. The horse couldn’t accelerate as quickly as others, but kept going strongly to the line regardless, and it was only the flying In Secret that ran past him late. The Winners Stakes at 1300m will suit him better, and connections should be eyeing off the Futurity Stakes / Orr Stakes 1400m double at Caulfield in February.

ESPIONA (7^th)

Espiona looks to have finally turned the corner into being a consistent mare, after years of dazzling us with talent but frustrating with inconsistency. A 1200m weight-for-age affair with the quality of an Everest field was never going to be her go given 1400m-1600m is more in her wheelhouse, but she ran as well as she possibly could after settling midfield and holding her position to the line. No-one could have expected more, and she will be a threat in whatever gets picked out for her from here.

BUENOS NOCHES (8^th)

Buenos Noches was taken back from an awkward draw by Dylan Gibbons, and can be considered to have run well despite an eighth-placed finish and finishing three and a half lengths behind the winner.

There is a question of whether he is better on rain-affected ground, given he has three wins from five starts on soft and heavy, but is yet to win a race on a good track. That said, four of his five starts on firm ground have been in elite races, and the other one was when he ran second to Giga Kick. He’s probably a length or two off the best horses, but is still only a lightly-raced four-year-old.

Expect Buenos Noches to be in the Everest again next year, and more of a winning threat then.

SHINZO (9^th)

Shinzo’s spring campaign has been an ordinary bit of planning from the normally astute Chris Waller stable. First-up into the Golden Rose at 1400m, pulled up lame, and second-up back to 1200m for an Everest – two of the hottest races Australia has, when you need everything to go right and be at your fittest. He was never going to be any hope in this race, and ran as well as he could under the circumstances.

OVERPASS (10^th)

Overpass was the one true disappointing performance from the Everest, and really the only horse that performed below expectation. He got to the front easily, led the race as he liked, kicked clear at the top of the straight, but was the first live chance beaten by the 300m and could do no better than 10^th.

He led at a decent enough tempo, but wasn’t going hard by any stretch, and this was shown by Think About It and Cylinder sitting just behind him and fighting out the finish. Still, the form of Overpass has been very good all year, and he deserves another chance when in his right race – even at his best, he’s still a rung below the elites.

MAZU (11^th)

Mazu bizarrely went back to last from his wide draw, when his best chance of earning a cheque would have been to go forward in a race that wasn’t going to be run helter-skelter.

He was the only horse in the race to be unlucky, copping a massive squeeze that chopped him out of the race at the 200m, but that’s going to happen when you choose to go back in the field – you open yourself up to those things happening. He might have finished sixth at best if not for that interference.

ALCOHOL FREE (12^th)

Alcohol Free was only in the Everest due to being owned by a slot-holder, and looked the one horse to be outclassed before the race – so it proved in the running. She sat outside Overpass and became a traffic hazard in the straight. It wasn’t her fault she was in the race, and she ran as well as she could.