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By Ray Hickson

The potential for a peak rating is behind Godolphin’s choice of multiple Group 1 placed entire Ingratiating as its representative in Saturday’s $15m TAB Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick.

While warhorse Kementari is being saved for the $2m Sydney Stakes on Everest Day, Godolphin Australia managing director Vin Cox said Ingratiating profiles well for the race especially with a the likelihood of at least soft conditions.

The four-year-old earned his ticket with a fast finishing second behind stablemate Paulele in the Group 2 Schillaci Stakes (1100m) at Caulfield last weekend.

“This is one of the reasons why we don’t announce early,’’ Cox said.

“He is a horse that was always on our list. He came back and went bang at Caulfield and his run on Saturday was equally full of merit. He attacked the line and did exactly what we wanted to see.

“The track is going to be in his favour, he’s a horse that is on the up and he might be heading towards a peak rating.

“A horse like Kementari as an example is probably at his level, and we know what he’s going to do, so we are looking for maybe a little bit of the X-Factor that we know Ingratiating has.”

Ingratiating, a winner of four of his 18 starts, is rated $34 with TAB prior to the barrier draw.

🇦🇺 NEWS: It is with great excitement we announce #TeamGodolphin’s slot runner for the 2022 The Everest.

❄️ #Ingratiating (Frosted) pic.twitter.com/gcPldYskTi

— Godolphin (@godolphin) October 10, 2022

Cox said the son of Frosted has always shown himself to be high class with two stakes wins as a two-year-old plus his second in the Group 1 Blue Diamond and third in the Group 1 Golden Slipper in 2021.

This time last year he ran third in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes (1200m) at weight-for-age.

“Right from when he was foaled to when he first hit the training yards everyone has been raving about him,’’ Cox said.

“His first win at Flemington was huge as a two-year-old, he's placed in a Blue Diamond and Golden Slipper, and they are real races, and those form lines generally stand up.

“The fact we have still got him going, and he’s going as well as we’ve had him going. The ratings are telling us that and he might be going a bit better.”

Godolphin’s star sprinter Bivouac’s second to Classique Legend in 2020 is the global powerhouse’s best result in a TAB Everest to date.

While Cox concedes Ingratiating isn’t at Bivouac’s level he can predict, if the race pans out in his favour, a placing isn’t out of the question like Osborne Bulls in (third in 2018) and the recently retired Trekking (third in 2019).

“We think he is as competitive as most horses we’ve put in there the exception being Bivouac,’’ he said.

“He was quite outstanding. If you take a line through Osborne Bulls or Trekking they both had similar trajectories in to the race.”

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