'Best wet tracker outside of Winx': Jungle Edge has plenty in reserve

He reckons his horse can lay claim to the tag of Australia's best wet-tracker outside of Winx and Mick Bell thinks Jungle Edge's potential inclusion as a reserve for The Everest would add drama to the build-up in a soaked Sydney.

Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club will settle on up to six emergencies for The Everest on Tuesday morning should any of the 12 runners go amiss in the lead-up to the $13 million sprint, which is expected to be held in wet conditions at Randwick on Saturday.

Affable Victorian trainer Bell earlier this year pledged to donate half of his prizemoney to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, which works in the cancer field, if his cult hero Jungle Edge picked up a slot in The Everest.

And after being one of the first horses backed on Monday in the Sydney Stakes, the consolation race for The Everest in which the emergencies will be drawn from, Bell is preparing to travel up the highway brimming with confidence.

"We would never wish ill towards anyone else's horse, but it's a long-shot dream we've aimed at," said Bell, whose wife Bev died from cancer last year. "Apart from Winx, he really does deserve the title as one of Australia's best wet-trackers.

"Basically I reckon we're an A+ on a heavy track and an A- on a soft track. It all seems to be coming together and we haven't had a lot of luck finding heavy tracks this season.

"If they were running on a Good [4] we wouldn't be coming up the highway, so it's good to know we're going to be running on a track with a helluva lot of give in it. If they make us an emergency it all adds to the drama."

If they make us an emergency it all adds to the drama.
Jungle Edge's trainer Mick Bell

Racing NSW will rubber stamp the horses on standby for The Everest after the field for the Sydney Stakes is declared. They included four reserves last year, but can select anywhere up to six this year.

Lightly raced Godolphin sprinter Osborne Bulls heads early betting for The Everest ahead of Pierata and Voodoo Lad.

But perhaps none make a case as compelling as Jungle Edge, which has banked more than $1 million in prize money and whose 14 career wins have all been on rain-affected tracks. As soon as markets opened for the Sydney Stakes he attracted good bets.

The Everest picture changed dramatically last week when Tulloch Lodge pair English and Invincible Star were found to be lame and lost their spots in the race while the Australian Turf Club cut ties with Nature Strip after his below-par Moir Stakes effort.

Racing NSW stewards have conducted vet checks on the 10 runners entered for The Everest based in NSW, while last year's placegetter Brave Smash and Moir Stakes heroine Viddora will arrive in Sydney later in the week.

Various weather forecasts have painted a bleak picture for the rest of the week in Sydney, with the Randwick rail to revert to the true position after being placed at six metres for the Spring Champion Stakes program last Saturday.

"It starts to take up now and we still might have a soft track to some degree, but it will be all right," ATC general manager of racecourses Lindsay Muphy said. "They're saying there's a chance of showers later in the week, but I think we might be OK."

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