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By Ray Hickson

There’s been an air of confidence from Tulloch Lodge all spring about Hawaii Five Oh as a TAB Everest contender and co-trainer Adrian Bott says everything is pointing to him being a major player at Randwick on Saturday.

Trainer Adrian Bott. (Pic: Bradley Photos).

Bott and Gai Waterhouse have had just two previous TAB Everest runners – English ran sixth in the inaugural edition in 2017 and Embracer finished 11th in 2021.

In Hawaii Five Oh and import Alcohol Free, Bott says the stable has its best chance to claim the world’s richest race on turf.

A narrow defeat in the Group 2 Premiere Stakes (1200m) two weeks ago earned Hawaii Five Oh a slot via Aquis and the chance to improve on his older sister Libertini’s showings in the race, running eighth in both 2020 and 2021.

“There seems a sense of timing about his campaign and preparation,’’ Bott said.

“He’s a quality horse, the right type of horse for the race and I feel he’s in shape at the right time.

“You have to be bullish going toward an Everest. There’s no point going there if you don’t have the right horse, in fairness to the owners and slot holders.”

Hawaii Five Oh only joined the Waterhouse/Bott stable back in late February and notched Group 3 wins in the Hawkesbury Guineas and Fred Best Classic before running third to Think About It in the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap, all at 1400m.

The four-year-old put the writing on the wall with a first-up sixth behind Private Eye in the Shorts (1100m) before running Think About It to a head in the Premiere.

“He had a good grounding by the time we got him,’’ Bott said.

“He was a big, raw, individual so I can see why it took him a bit of time to find his feet and things to fall into place. He’s a horse with plenty of upside.

“We wanted to give him the opportunity to make the Everest, we wanted to see it first from him in the Shorts and we got a good line on where he was at. We were even more satisfied to see the improvement he took into the Premiere Stakes.

“Off the back of that he’s done well once again. He’s been able to take up a position, last start he was ridden relatively quiet and was effective.”

James McDonald partners Hawaii Five Oh, $13 with TAB on Friday, with last year’s winning hoop Craig Williams on board Alcohol Free, a $51 chance.

Bott said the six-year-old ex-UK mare is a genuine hope on her best form which he saw a glimpse of in running fourth in the Premiere first-up from a spell and that was good enough for owners and slot holder Yulong to give her the chance in the $20m TAB Everest (1200m).

“We wanted to see a good competitive return from her to have enough confidence to make the recommendation to the owners she was the right horse,’’ he said.

“She raced a little bit fresh but open to good improvement on the back of that run.

“She clearly wasn’t at her best when she competed in the autumn carnival, he’s had a great break and seems to be thriving. She showed a lot more sharpness and speed this time around and is a very different mare to what we saw a few months ago.”

So could Alcohol Free, a July Cup winner over the tough Newmarket 1200m, be a missing piece to the speed picture where everyone has Overpass leading and nobody is certain who will pressure him.

Hawaii Five Oh runs second in the Premiere Stakes

“She sat pretty handy to the speed there the other day,’’ Bott said.

“We haven’t seen enough of her to really strongly say she can be up leading and forcing the issue but she’s shown enough speed to be able to put herself in the race.”

Adrian Bott on Ganbare (race 4): “He thrived on a high pressure mile there last start and stepping out to the 1800m should be exactly what he’s looking for.”

On Raf Attack (race 4): “Been very pleased with his runs, in quite high pressure races, and I thought he stuck on very well having created the pace. At 1800m he should be able to find a more comfortable rhythm and be hard to hold out.”

All the fields, form and replays for TAB Everest Day at Randwick on Saturday