THE INFERNO BLAZES HIS WAY INTO THE EVEREST

By Graham Potter | Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Slot-holder James Herron knows a thing or two about selecting horses for the Everest.

Herron, of course, was the successful slot holder with Redzel in the inaugural running of the event back in 2017 and he has been an ever-present slot holder throughout the brief history of The Everest during which time he has been continually refining his approach to the race to try to meet the particular demands that come into play in different years.

This year, with several of the big guns such as the ruling race favourite Nature Strip locked up by slot holders very early on in proceedings, Herron has been biding his time.
In an interview a couple of weeks ago Herron suggested that, with the usual suspects taking the spotlight and with the main contenders in that group likely to be hard to beat, he thought you almost had to be looking for a horse to arrive on the scene late out of left field who might be able to upset the established applecart.

And true to that sentiment, Herron has now made a choice that fits that criteria with the Cliff Brown trained The Inferno being the runner that Herron has selected as his slot representive … and, as expected from a Herron slot runner, The inferno certainly has very sound credentials.

The Inferno is a runner that Cliff Brown brought to Australia with him when he returned after a decade long training stint in Singapore.

The Inferno was a star performer in Singapore. The son of Holy Roman Emperor won his first four starts in a row, a sequence which included wins in two Listed races, the Golden Horseshoe and the Saas Fee Stakes.

After finishing second in his fifth start, The Inferno then again won four in a row to take his race record at the time to eight wins from nine starts. That second winning sequence included an impressive feature race treble which saw him take out the Singapore Classic, the Singapore Guineas and the prestigious Lion City Cup … all Listed races.

The Lion City Cup was The Inferno’s last run in Singapore before relocating to Australia and he was away from race action from October 25, 2020, until he made his Australian debut at Caulfield in the Regal Roller on August 14 this year. He finished sixth in that race.

While it would have been fair to expect The Inferno to take some time to build up to his best form, his next start in the Group 2 McEwen at Moonee Valley showed that you can’t hold back class as The Inferno resumed his winning ways there, keeping Portland Sky and September Run back in the minor placings.

That run would have caught Herron’s attention, but it took another run to absolutely confirm The Inferno’s prowess had not been diminished in any way his new surroundings and he put that run on the board with a sterling, close-up second place finish behind Wild Ruler in the Group 1 Moir Stakes on Friday night.

A couple of days an agreement had been negotiated between Herron and the connections of The Inferno and the Cliff Brown trained runner is now officially a runner in The Everest … and is an exciting inclusion in an already very competitive lineup.