Kheir: Jimmysstar “unlikely” to line up in the Everest

Ozzie Kheir joined Gareth Hall as the special guest on SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up with Gareth Hall’s Beyond the Barriers to discuss his leading spring hopes, including Jimmysstar, Zahrann and James J Braddock.

Jimmysstar’s chances of bouncing back in Saturday’s Mankikato Stakes remain firmly on Kheir’s radar, although the wide rail position presents another challenge for the star sprinter.

“It’s going to be hard for him with the rail that far out, I still have a lot of faith in him that he can bounce back but I’ve had that faith for the last four starts,” Kheir said.

“You just can’t trial that well, work that good and have the trainer tell you how good he is going to perform like that on the track, so something clearly isn’t right, but I’ll never give up on him.”

While the Everest remains a possibility, Kheir admitted Jimmysstar now needs to produce something special on Saturday to force his way into the race.

“There’s been people on hold for a long time, they’ve been constantly touching base and keeping us lukewarm," he said.

“I’ve remained consistent in the fact that Jimmy needs to put his hand up to go to the Everest and we’ll know.

“Unfortunately, it’s probably more unlikely than likely at this stage unless he does something remarkable there on Saturday,” he said.

Kheir also highlighted Zahrann as one of his leading Melbourne Cup hopes after his recent performance, revealing the faith the ownership group has maintained in the stayer throughout his preparation.

“Zahrann is up there after the weekend, I’ve always thought he was going to be a genuine Melbourne Cup contender,” Kheir said.

“He’s starting to come into his own and it’s great because you get the relief because initially no one saw what we saw.

“He’s definitely one that when everyone thought he was going average in the winter, I actually thought he was going along fine, he was only supposed to have a couple of runs anyways.”

James J Braddock is another horse Kheir believes could emerge as a Melbourne Cup contender, with the gelding providing plenty of excitement after being purchased by the ownership group last year.

“We bought him a year ago and to now have him win the main Derby lead-up and run third in an Epsom Derby, it’s very exciting for all the owners,” Kheir said.

Kheir explained that the horse was not an obvious sales proposition after winning a maiden on a heavy track, but discussions with Matt Becker convinced the group to take the punt.

“It’s very hard to sell a horse to your mates who’s won a maiden on a Heavy 10,” Kheir said.

“But I spoke to Matt Becker and we ran through the pros and cons, he wasn’t too expensive and we thought let’s back Joseph O’Brien with this one.”

“The attention to detail from the trainer is second to none, they have great work ethic and he works very hard.”

With Jimmysstar needing a big performance to revive his Everest hopes, Kheir’s attention will also turn to Zahrann and James J Braddock, who are both emerging as genuine Melbourne Cup contenders as the spring continues to unfold.