{"id":144785,"date":"2021-10-16T05:51:28","date_gmt":"2021-10-16T05:51:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=144785"},"modified":"2021-10-16T11:59:44","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T11:59:44","slug":"nature-strip-takes-out-15-million-everest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=144785","title":{"rendered":"Nature Strip takes out $15 million Everest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nature Strip has taken out the $15 million Everest<\/a>, holding off a fast-finishing Masked Crusader and Eduardo.<\/p>\n

The Chris Waller<\/a>-trained horse looked to be a comfortable winner with 400 metres to go before Masked Crusader threatened to steal the race in the dying moments.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong>Reigning Cox Plate champion Sir Dragonet euthanised<\/a><\/p>\n

With championship jockey James McDonald in the saddle, the win was McDonald and Waller's 250th together working as jockey and trainer.<\/p>\n

Waller was overcome with emotion after the win, fighting back tears as he spoke moments after the thrilling finish.<\/p>\n

"It's just a great race that's captured the imagination of so many people," he told Seven.<\/p>\n

"What better way to get out of COVID. I could feel it. [The preparation] was a little bit different, obviously, but when he crossed the line it certainly hit home. He just didn't panic really."<\/p>\n

\"James<\/p>\n

Waller's confidence in Nature Strip was echoed by McDonald, who called the trainer "an absolute master".<\/p>\n

"I've never woken up in the morning and been so confident in a runner, even though he's just got there," he said.<\/p>\n

"The man who trains it is just an absolute master. What he does, he's just a freak of a trainer and the horse is a star and I knew we'd see something really good today, the build-up had been so good. <\/p>\n

"Everyone was wiping it off because he's been in it three times and hasn't done anything, but it's been different this time around. He's just a star, the horse gives its all."<\/p>\n

THE EVEREST RESULTS: <\/strong>1st – Nature Strip, 2nd – Masked Crusader, 3rd – Eduardo, 4th – Lost And Running<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/em>For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nature Strip has taken out the $15 million Everest, holding off a fast-finishing Masked Crusader and Eduardo. The Chris Waller-trained horse looked to be a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144785"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=144785"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144785\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144787,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144785\/revisions\/144787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=144785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=144785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=144785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}