Evaporate chasing 2025 The Golden Eagle riches

Ben, Will and JD Hayes have welcomed the venue switch for this Saturday’s $10 million Golden Eagle, confident Randwick will suit their contender Evaporate perfectly.

The race has been traditionally run at Rosehill, but due to this season’s adjustments, Randwick will now host the feature.

Evaporate lines up after a courageous second in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap, where he loomed as the winner only to be overhauled late.

Hayes said the run was exactly the conditioning performance the horse needed.

His spring campaign began with a luckless fifth in the P B Lawrence Stakes, followed by a short break to address a foot niggle. He returned to claim the Sandown Stakes, then fought hard in the Toorak.

“He ran enormous in the Toorak,” Hayes said.

“We just got beaten by Transatlantic who franked the form by coming out and winning in Sydney last week.

“On the day, Transatlantic got an easy lead, and we were the only horse that came out of the pack to challenge him.

“We slightly peaked on our run, but I think now that we’ve had those last couple of runs under the belt, he’s definitely good enough to win a race like the Golden Eagle.”

Hayes added that Evaporate has previously thrived racing clockwise and at Randwick specifically.

“He won the Carbine Club up in Sydney earlier this year, so moving the race there, where he’s run well before, might be an advantage for us,” Hayes said.

“Being on his Sydney leg might be a good thing for him. He relaxes better on that Sydney leg.”

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