Everest-winning hoop Chad Schofield is confirmed as the new rider for Skyhook in the $10 million Golden Eagle, following Kerrin McEvoy’s unsuccessful appeal against a whip suspension.
McEvoy was suspended for eight meetings due to a whip infringement incurred in Wednesday’s Geelong Cup, a penalty that rules him out of contention for this Saturday’s Golden Eagle (1500m) race at Randwick.
Skyhook’s co-trainer Gerald Ryan expressed his disappointment for McEvoy, who has ridden the horse in 10 of its 16 starts. However, Ryan was pleasantly surprised to secure a jockey of Schofield’s calibre on short notice.
“You move on, but I just feel sorry for Kerrin,” Ryan said. “He’s done a heap of work with him and knows him like the back of his hand.”
“The two jockeys it came down to were either Ethan Brown or Chad. It went Chad’s way because he can have a sit on him on Tuesday morning, and I’ve known Chad since he started. I gave him one of his first rides at Kembla.”
Skyhook currently shares the third line of the Golden Eagle betting markets at $8, positioned behind the $1.80 favourite Sheza Alibi and Beiwacht at $6.
The entire, trained by the formidable combination of Ryan and Sterling Alexiou, has been in outstanding form this spring. It kicked off its campaign with two Group 2 victories before finishing as the runner-up to Apocalyptic in the Silver Eagle (1300m), a race where the horse was conceding distance.
The four-year-old colt pleased the training staff with its work on Saturday morning and will have a final significant gallop on Tuesday to complete its preparations.
Ryan is confident Skyhook is in top shape and is unconcerned about track conditions, though he ideally wants a midfield barrier draw.
“I wouldn’t like to see him drawn inside three. I wouldn’t like to see him drawn eighteen either, but he does have a habit of drawing the outside gate,” Ryan commented. “Track conditions won’t worry me. He’s two from two on heavy tracks and he’s just as effective on dry tracks.”
Glen Boss remains the only jockey to have achieved the lucrative Everest-Golden Eagle double in the same season, winning the sprint in 2019 aboard Yes Yes Yes and that year’s Golden Eagle on Kolding.
Punters looking for the best racing betting markets for the Golden Eagle will find Skyhook a popular choice.