ROYAL Randwick will always be special to Marc Chevalier.
New South Wales racing’s headquarters provided the Hawkesbury trainer with his first stakes triumph when Torrens won the Listed Christmas Cup (2400m) there in December 2022.
Now he’s hoping a mare with whom he has won five races (including two on the inside Kensington circuit) can hoist him back into the city spotlight on Saturday.
Five-year-old Everyone’s A Star (Louis Beuzelin) contests the Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1100m) at Randwick, chasing her fourth city victory.
It’s been a lean trot of late for both trainer and his mare.
Chevalier has won only two races this season; the latest with the Beuzelin-ridden Without You at his home track on November 12.
Everyone’s A Star has been out of the winning list since scoring at Rosehill Gardens in a Saturday Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap over 1100m on April 27 last year.
“It’s been a quiet season, but I’ve got some nice young horses in the stable,” Chevalier said this morning.
“And it’s approaching this time of the year when Everone’s A Star really shone nearly 12 months ago.
“She won three races in town from four starts (and the defeat was nonetheless an excellent seventh stepping up to Group 2 company in the Sapphire Stakes, 1200m at Randwick during The Championships).
“Everyone’s A Star likes autumn, and she is in good order.”
At her seventh start this campaign, Everyone’s A Star ran third in a similar race over 1000m at Randwick a fortnight ago.
“This time she meets the winner Photographics on 3kg better terms, and runner-up Shall Be 0.5kg better,” Chevalier said.
“I certainly haven’t lost faith in winning another race in town with Everyone’s A Star.
“She has been pretty unlucky in a few runs this time in.
“Admittedly she has drawn a bit awkwardly, but Louis knows her well.
“He rode Everyone’s A Star for the first time in the Sapphire Stakes last April, and has been on her five times since and has developed a good affinity with the mare.”
In a wide open Midway, Wyong trainer Kim Waugh’s Mogul Monarch (Jay Ford) was a $5 favorite with TAB.com.au this morning.
Photographics was at $7 and Shall Be $7.50, with Everyone’s A Star seemingly a generous $18.
Three-year-old Capitalist gelding Mogul Monarch has won three of his nine starts, and been runner-up in three.
He resumed with an emphatic Wyong victory on February 13, leading throughout in a Benchmark 64 Handicap (1100m) with 60.5kg.
Local apprentice Anna Roper rode him then, but Ford has partnered Mogul Monarch on five occasions, and been successful twice; both at Hawkesbury in August and October over Saturday’s 1100m.
He has drawn a little wider than Everyone’s A Star; 13 in a field of 14 for only his second city assignment.
Mogul Monarch was beaten less than a length when fourth to Mad Darcey in a 1200m Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap at Randwick on October 26 last year.
Story John Curtis, February 27, 2025 - Pics Bradley Photos
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