Alcohol Free secures final Everest spot
Yulong Investments has announced that its multiple Group 1-winning mare, Alcohol Free, will run in its slot in the 2023 Everest (1200m).
Defending champion Craig Williams, who rode Giga Kick to success in last year’s event, will take the ride.
Alcohol Free, renowned for her victories in the July Cup, the Sussex Stakes, the Coronation Stakes and the Cheveley Park Stakes, brings an exceptional, elite-level track record and global form to the world’s highest-rated sprint event.
Yulong’s Operations Manager, Sam Fairgray, expressed the team’s excitement about Alcohol Free racing in Yulong’s silks, in the organisation’s-owned slot.
“We’re thrilled that Alcohol Free is running in the green and white in the upcoming Everest,” said Fairgray. “She embodies the world-class performance that Mr Zhang has built the Yulong brand to represent. We are confident that she will offer an excellent opportunity for us in the race, upholding Yulong’s successful history in The Everest.”
Yulong won the 2018 running of The Everest with Redzel delivering the second of his three victories when lining up in the Mr Zhang-owned slot.
Alcohol Free, a daughter of No Nay Never, ran a strong fourth in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1100m) first up from a spell, and the Waterhouse-Bott stable are confident that she is ready to take on the country’s best sprinters.
“Alcohol Free is quite simply the most exciting mare to come to Australia,” said Waterhouse.
“We are delighted that she has gained at start in the race, ridden by Craig Williams, who of course is already a winner of the race.
“It was a good run in the Premiere Stakes, and she really needed that to take the edge off her freshness. I believe she is absolutely spot on now.