Street Boss’ Tempted climbs Everest in epic contest

Tempted, the sprinting superstar daughter of Street Boss, has conquered the world’s best horse Ka Ying Rising, prevailing in an epic renewal of the G1 The Everest (1,200m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Thanks to a pro-active ride from Chad Schofield, who took the initiative to ride Tempted closer to the speed than usual, last year’s Everest result was reversed, as the four-year-old mare shot clear inside the final 200 metres to steal a margin on the Hong Kong star.

While Ka Ying Rising surged late under desperate riding from Zac Purton, the pair could not catch the Godolphin mare, who held on by less than a quarter of a length, with third place going to Joliestar.

Trainer Ciaron Maher said that the expectation was that Tempted would be at her best, it was just a matter of whether that would be good enough to defeat the short-price favourite and the highest rated horse in the world. 

“I thought she’d run a PB today. I’m thrilled. I knew we had to take a position. Chad knew what he had underneath him. She had to be phenomenal, and she was,” he said.

“We didn't really know how good she was, but I knew she'd run a peak. I don't know times or anything like that, but I just can't thank the team at Godolphin enough.”

The G1 Surround Stakes winner began her spring campaign with a narrow victory in the G2 Concorde Stakes before producing one of the strongest performances of her career in the G2 Premiere Stakes. On Saturday, she stepped that up again. 

With $14.5 million in prize money now banked, she becomes the leading earner for Street Boss, who has nine G1 winners in Australia and has produced current Darley stallions Anamoe, Tentyris and Traffic Warden. 

Street Boss, who has 91 global stakes winners, stands at Darley’s Northwood Park for $66,000 including GST.