From dual winner Redzel to Hong Kong flyer Ka Ying Rising, these are every The Everest champion ranked from best to worst by The Sporting Base, weighing race-day brilliance, career peak and lasting impact on the world’s richest turf sprint.
The TAB Everest returns to Royal Randwick on Saturday, 17 October 2026 — a Group 1 weight-for-age 1200m sprint and the richest race on turf, with a $20 million purse built around its unique 12-slot system. Since the inaugural running in 2017, eight horses have lifted the trophy. Only Redzel has done it twice. Defending champion Ka Ying Rising is lining up to become the second dual winner, while Godolphin’s Tempted — runner-up in 2025 — stamped her credentials again by winning the Group 2 Premiere Stakes and eyeing another crack at the Hong Kong star.
Before the next chapter, it is time to settle the argument: who sits atop the Everest honour roll? This ranking is TSB’s opinion. Every time, margin detail and career fact below is drawn from official results and reputable reporting — not invented.
How we ranked them
We weighed four things: Everest performance (time, opposition and how the race was won); career sprinting peak (Group 1 record and international form); historical impact on the race itself; and longevity or dominance at the top level. Winning The Everest once does not automatically beat a deeper body of work — and the most recent winner does not automatically sit at No.1. Note that Racing NSW elevated The Everest to Group 1 status ahead of the 2024 edition, so earlier victories were not Group 1 at the time even though the race was already the world’s richest turf event. For form and sectionals ahead of this year’s race, use TSB’s free Racing Form Guide.
8. Classique Legend (2020)
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy and trainer Les Bridge combined for the 2020 Everest, with Classique Legend stopping the clock in 1:08.27 ahead of Bivouac and Gytrash. It was McEvoy’s third Everest in four years and the first time the favourite had saluted. Classique Legend’s Randwick win was the peak of a compact career (six wins from 15 Australian starts) before an unplaced Hong Kong Sprint swansong. A thoroughly deserved Everest hero — just with less depth around the win than the horses above him.
7. Think About It (2023)
Sam Clipperton and Joseph Pride delivered the 2023 Everest in 1:07.64 — the second-fastest winning time in race history — as Think About It ($4.40 favourite) held I Wish I Win and stablemate Private Eye in a three-way finish. The son of So You Think arrived on a nine-race winning streak (11 wins from 12 starts overall), with Clipperton aboard for the entire sequence, including Group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup and Stradbroke Handicap victories in Queensland. It was Pride’s breakthrough Everest after near-misses with Eduardo and Private Eye. Brilliant peak form; a shade short of the historical or international weight carried by those higher.
6. Yes Yes Yes (2019)
Chris Waller and Glen Boss sent out the only three-year-old in the 2019 field, and Yes Yes Yes smashed a Randwick track record of 1:07.32 that still stands as the Everest race record, beating Santa Ana Lane and Trekking while dual winner Redzel finished eighth. The Rubick colt had already won the Group 2 Todman Stakes and finished second in the Golden Rose; he was later crowned Australian Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding of the Year for 2019/20. A tendon injury forced retirement to Coolmore in February 2020 after just eight starts (4-3-0) and more than $7 million in earnings. The record time alone cements his place in Everest lore.
5. Giga Kick (2022)
Clayton Douglas and Craig Williams sprung one of the great Everest shocks when undefeated three-year-old Giga Kick ($21) ran down Private Eye and Mazu in 1:09.86, with defending champion and odds-on favourite Nature Strip only fourth. He was the second three-year-old winner, the first undefeated Everest champion and the longest-priced winner to date. Giga Kick later added Group 1 All Aged Stakes and Doomben 10,000 wins, was named Australian Champion Sprinter and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding for 2022/23, and in 2025 took the VRC Champions Sprint — returning to finish second behind Bella Nipotina in the 2024 Everest. A freakish rise and a lasting CV.
4. Bella Nipotina (2024)
Ciaron Maher and Craig Williams made history when Bella Nipotina became the first mare to win The Everest — and the first winner after the race was granted Group 1 status — clocking 1:08.76 from barrier 12 to nose out 2022 champion Giga Kick, with Growing Empire third. The Pride Of Dubai mare already owned Group 1 Manikato Stakes (2022), Doomben 10,000 and Tattersall’s Tiara (both 2024) wins before her Randwick night. She retired in 2025 as a four-time Group 1 winner with career earnings north of $22 million, underlining years of elite consistency rather than a one-day spike.
3. Redzel (2017, 2018)
No Everest roll of honour makes sense without the dual champion. Kerrin McEvoy and Peter & Paul Snowden won the inaugural 2017 edition in 1:08.36 (Vega Magic, Brave Smash) and defended in 1:12.03 in 2018 (Trapeze Artist, Osborne Bulls). Redzel remains the only horse to win The Everest twice. Beyond Randwick he collected Group 1 wins in the 2017 Doomben 10,000 and 2017 VRC Darley Classic, earned Champion Sprinter honours, and retired in 2020 as Snitzel’s leading earner for Arrowfield. Historical impact on the race is unmatched: he proved the slot concept could crown a genuine champion, then came back and did it again.
2. Ka Ying Rising (2025)
David A. Hayes and Zac Purton brought Hong Kong’s star to Randwick and left with the first overseas Everest victory. Ka Ying Rising won the 2025 Group 1 Everest in 1:08.13, beating Tempted and Jimmysstar, taking his record to 15 wins from 17 starts and extending a long unbeaten streak. Purton called it the biggest moment of his career; Hayes said the same. The Shamexpress gelding had already dominated Hong Kong Group 1 sprinting and returned as the clear defending favourite for 2026. Peak world standing and a statement Everest performance put him clear of every winner bar one — though his Australian body of work is still shorter than Nature Strip’s.
1. Nature Strip (2021)
Chris Waller and James McDonald finally landed The Everest at the third attempt in 2021, Nature Strip winning in 1:09.11 from Masked Crusader and Eduardo as favourite. That Randwick success sits inside a sprinting resume no other Everest winner can match: nine Group 1 victories, including three straight TJ Smith Stakes (2020–22), two Darley/Champions Sprints, the Galaxy, Moir Stakes, Black Caviar Lightning and a dominant King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2022. He was Australian Racehorse of the Year in 2019/20 and 2021/22 and Australian Sprinter of the Year three times. He returned for a fourth Everest in 2022 and finished fourth behind Giga Kick — proof he was mortal on the day — but across peak ratings, international form and sustained Group 1 dominance, Nature Strip is the clearest No.1 on this list.
Looking ahead to 2026
The Everest honour roll is still young — eight winners across nine editions — and 17 October will add another name or confirm a dual champion. Ka Ying Rising’s title defence and Tempted’s Premiere Stakes form already frame the rematch narrative; for the latest confirmed runners and slot news see TSB’s 2026 Everest field round-up, and build your own view with the free Racing Form Guide.
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