The father and son partnership of Peter and Paul Snowden took the inaugural staging of the world’s richest race on grass, the $10 million The Tab Everest (1200m), with the Snitzel five-year-old gelding Redzel, and Benjamin Smith the $500,000 Sydney Stakes over the same distance with mare In Her Time.

A former Scone jockey and trainer, Peter Snowden has been entrenched as a leading Sydney mentor for many years, including a stint conditioning the Darley-Godolphin runners.

But, Newcastle-based Smith is a fairly newcomer to the training ranks. 

Scone born and raised, he is a son of Ian “Ginger” Smith and a grandson of Graeme Smith, a breeder and owner of some successful performers a few years ago.

In brilliantly winning the Sydney Stakes, In Her Time suggested she could have gone well in The Everest, a race for which she had been first emergency. 

Bred on Fred and Mary Moses’ horse farm Kanangra in the Scone district for the estates of the Cobcrofts of Parraweena, Willow Tree and unsold at a reserve of $40,000 at the Sydney sales and now racing for 1 owners, she has won seven of 16 starts and earned more than $1.3 million.

In Her Time is by Time Thief, a son of Redoute’s Choice whose seven starts included a Listed win and Caulfield Guineas second and who was shipped out to South Africa in April 2015 after five seasons at Darley’s Kelvinside, at Aberdeen.

He had a double at the Randwick meeting as In Her Time’s effort was preceded earlier in the afternoon by success in the $200,000 TAB Anniversary Highway, a 1400m event for country horses, by the Rod Northam Scone-trained six-year-old gelding After All That.

Time Thief’s sire Redoute’s Choice had an influence on the day that put him in the same league as his sire Danehill. 

In particular, it saw two of his sons who share the stallion yards with him at the Arrowfield Stud, Segenhoe Valley (Scone), Snitzel and Not a Single Doubt, provide the winners of the two most prestigious races, the Everest at Randwick (Redzel) and the $2 million Caulfield Guineas, a classic annexed by Mick Price-trained Mighty Boss (outsider at $100), a colt appearing for the sixth time and rising above a maiden win at Sale at two and a second at Sandown on August 30.

Not a Single Doubt supplied four stakes winners on the day, the others being at Caulfield in the Debutant Stakes-L (2yo), Qafila, and Cape Grim Beef Steaks-G3, Cool Passion and at Randwick in the Reginald Allen-L (3yo fillies), Torvill. 

He was also represented on the Randwick program by Legend of Condor, the Gerald Ryan-trained winner of the Victory Vain Plate for two-year-olds.

Redoute’s Choice, in addition, made a contribution to black type racing as the sire of the dam of the Godolphin bred and owned Lonhro colt Kemtari, the runner-up in the Caulfield Guineas.