How an ‘outrageous’ idea from V’landys changed racing forever

Peter V’landys continues to make headlines – both good and bad – in the NRL, but this weekend marks the 10th year of perhaps his greatest creation, The Everest.

In what has become one of the most exciting races on the Australian calendar, the annual $20 million extravaganza has undoubtedly revitalised Sydney racing.

Starting out as a far-fetched idea from V’landys, the long-time boss of Racing NSW, the annual blockbuster was designed to bring younger fans through the gates at Royal Randwick, while also giving more incentives for trainers and owners to run their best short-distance gallopers in Sydney as opposed to Melbourne.

While it sounds like a lay-up in hindsight, there were plenty of doubters and detractors around the racing landscape at the time.

The concept of a slot race, where cashed-up investors or groups would need to lay down a hefty six-figure sum to gain entry and put forward a horse as their proxy, seemed somewhat unfamiliar to those within the Aussie racing industry.

Long-time Sydney caller Darren Flindell, who has been the voice for all nine of the previous Everest races and will be in the box for the 10th edition on Saturday, reflected on his initial thoughts when V’landys started spruiking the idea.

“The whole concept sounded quite outrageous in many respects,” Flindell told nine.com.au before this weekend’s Everest.

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“To think you needed 12 different people or groups, willing to front up $600,000 for slots over a three-year period, it was a substantial outlay.

“It was a very daring idea and something unique for Australian racing.”

To say the race became an instant success and boost for the Australian Turf Club and Sydney racing would be a massive understatement.

“The one thing that became very evident when those horses were on the track [in 2017] and watching the crowd throughout the day swell up ... I’d never seen a crowd like that before at Randwick, to be honest,” Flindell said.

“You could see from that very first edition that this was going to be special.”

After the initial running of the race in 2017, which drew a solid crowd of 33,512 as people started to figure out what the richest race on turf was all about, numbers grew in following years past the 40,000 mark at Randwick.

Those crowd numbers coincided with an enormous surge in ATC memberships, soaring past the 15,000 mark, which forced the governing body to introduce a waitlist for new sign-ups from early-2019 onwards.

The early years of The Everest coincided with the latter stages of Winx’s career, creating a perfect storm for buzz and excitement at the track.

As someone who snuck in just before that cut-off period and became a member in 2018, there was no better time to get among the thick of Sydney racing.

COVID came at the worst possible time and derailed some of that momentum, which saw a drop in membership numbers and obviously, dwindling crowds.

But once the world opened back up again, The Everest truly became the hottest ticket in town and crowd sizes have increased year-on-year since 2022.

Randwick becomes a full-blown party atmosphere, as tens of thousands of fans – whether diehard racegoers or casual punters – belt out “Sweet Caroline” in a goosebumps-inducing moment as the horses head towards the barriers.

The past three racedays have been sold-out and this year will be even bigger, with a crowd of 52,000 expected to descend upon Sydney’s main track to watch the world’s best horse, Ka Ying Rising, defend his crown in the 1200m feature race.

“A lot of the naysayers were straight onto it and said it wouldn’t work – but history now shows it’s perhaps the greatest concept of all-time when it comes to Sydney racing and it’s reinvigorated the spring carnival here,” Flindell said.

“I think what has made this race so unique is the fact everybody talks about it for almost a year in advance. The topic of conversation around ‘can this horse be an Everest horse’ or ‘will Ka Ying Rising come back’ started nearly 12 months ago.

“You can spend millions of dollars on publicity and promotion, but The Everest doesn’t need it, because it simply just promotes itself.

“I’m blown away by it all, it’s the conversation that never ends.”

The attention this week is all around Ka Ying Rising, who stormed home as a short-priced favourite last year and is fixed to do it again.

The champion Hong Kong import has also proven The Everest’s impact isn’t solely about the financial impact and wider interest from punters.

Ka Ying Rising is among a handful of overseas runners to compete in the race, but was the first to win it in 2025 and has no doubt turned some heads abroad, with more international raiders expected to compete in coming years, especially after the race was officially elevated to Group 1 status two years ago.

Since the race’s inception, some of the best sprinters of the modern era have run in The Everest and some of them doing so on multiple occasions.

Redzel, who won the first two Everests, was a true fan favourite during his career, while other past winners include Nature Strip and Bella Nipotina, who sit behind only Winx as the top prize money earners in Australian thoroughbred history.

But according to Flindell, none of those previous winners have created the type of buzz that Ka Ying Rising has for what has become Sydney racing’s crown jewel.

“Out of all the additions to the race, I got the most pleasure and satisfaction out of Ka Ying Rising – I found it quite irritating and agitating all the negativity that surrounded him in Australia before last year’s race,” he said.

“It’s not that he really had a point to prove given his record in Hong Kong, but he had a point to prove here and he did it. All the indications from [trainer] David Hayes are that he’s got the preparation even better this year than 12 months ago.”

As the 12 runners prepare for another instalment of the race, V’landys will now get the chance to sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labour from afar, after stepping away from the Racing NSW job to focus on his extensive NRL commitments.

Flindell heaped praise on the bold yet divisive sporting administrator and believes it was no fluke that V’landys willed The Everest towards what it has become.

“It’s certainly been a feather in his cap, because he sort of went out on his own with this concept and withstood all the pressure around it,” Flindell said.

“It’s been ingenious when you think about it. His plan was to revitalise the Sydney spring carnival, which previously was Epsom day and nothing else, with all the spotlight on what was happening in Victoria and their carnival.

“He’s extended the season in Sydney, even more so now with the $10 million Golden Eagle, which is kind of like the grand finale of it all.

“The whole thing has been an outstanding success and to think the volume of young people that want to be at The Everest – I have three mates my age and their kids have been hounding me for months to get tickets, which shows you just how difficult they are to get and how it’s become the hottest ticket in town.

“I think that sort of shows how this race has been sold, that so many young people recognise that this is a huge event and they just wanna be there for it.”