Whitby eyes the ultimate prize

Victory in last Saturday’s A$1.5 million ATC Epsom Handicap was a welcome first for Max Whitby and Neil Werrett, but they can’t wait to play their trump card at the Sydney spring carnival.
When the pair of high-profile owners return to Randwick next weekend, it will be to join forces with Proven Thoroughbred Syndicate’s Jamie Walters as slot-holders in Private Eye, current third favourite for The Everest.
Having finished second to Giga Kick last year, the Joe Pride-trained six-year-old sealed another shot at the world’s richest turf race when winning The Shorts at Randwick on September 16.
It’s getting on for 50 years since Whitby arrived in Sydney as a homeless teenager determined to get a break. That he did, against the odds but emphatically, finding his niche as a futures broker and in the years since becoming wealthy as well as influential in both commerce and racing.
His best horse was the Zabeel colt Savabeel, winner of the 2004 Cox Plate and a champion stallion since who he still holds breeding shares in. Werrett’s highlight as an owner was the incomparable Black Caviar, unbeaten winner of 25 races.
The punt has long been a big part of Whitby’s life mantra and meant he couldn’t resist the opportunity to be part of The Everest when the concept was floated in 2017. Equally vested was his former role as a director of the Sydney Turf Club and then a foundation board member when the STC and the Australian Jockey Club combined in 2011 to form the Australian Turf Club.
“I wrote a cheque for $1.8 million for the first three years as a slot-holder at $600,000 and then Neil came on board with me,” Whitby told RaceForm earlier this week.
“Since then the slot has cost $700,000 a year, but that’s a bet to convince any banker when the last horse collects $700,000. You could have Shanks’s pony running for you and still get your money back.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to Peter V’Landys. He and I have had our blues, but The Everest has proven itself as a brilliant idea.”
In The Everest’s first running for a stake of $10 million, the Whitby/Werrett slot finished second with Vega Magic, beaten by Redzel in the first of his back-to-back wins, and four years later Nature Strip was the only rival standing in the way of their runner Masked Crusader.
“We’ve been close a couple of times, but we’ve also had our arses kicked with what we thought was our best chance ever, Sunlight,” Whitby recalled. “That was pretty disappointing.”
Whitby admits that sentiment had him looking in a different direction when it came to this year’s slot selection.
“I thought our slot would be a natural for I Wish I Win – a son of my old mate Savabeel bred and raced by the Chitticks – but it wasn’t to be. We’ve settled on Private Eye and I’m happy with that, but when the field jumps next week it will probably be the first time ever that I haven’t wanted to see a Savabeel win.
“I get it that Entain and a Kiwi horse are a good fit for The Everest. The word from over your way it that the deal between Entain and the New Zealand TAB is good for stakes and everything else.
“I used to race a lot of horses in New Zealand but for me there was no future racing for peanuts, but good luck if you’ve turned the corner.”
Feedback from the Private Eye camp has Whitby optimistic of landing Australian racing’s biggest prize.
“Joe (Pride) rang me the other day and said the horse is going like a rocket. He had a few easy days after that first-up win in The Shorts and he’s just where he wants him.
“Joe’s also got the favourite (Think About It), but the way I see it our horse is right in the race and the pressure is off us.”