The card Saturday (our Friday night) at Royal Randwick Race Course, which will host the $20 million (AUD) G1 TAB Everest Stakes, could not be better. Worth about $14 million in U.S. dollars, the six-furlong Everest is the richest turf race run in the world. To talk about the Everest, why racing is soaring in Australia and, of course, the Melbourne Cup, Jason Witham joined this week's TDN Writers' Room Podcast presented by Keeneland. Witham, a presenter at SKY Racing AU & Sky Racing, was the Gainesway Guest of the Week.The story in the Everest is Ka Ying Rising (NZ) Shamexpress ({NZ}), the Hong Kong-based sprinting superstar who will be attempting to win the Everest for the second year in a row and run his winning streak to 22.“It's going to be fascinating to see if Ka Ying Rising can go back-to-back,” Witham said. “What a champion. What a privilege it is to have him here in Australia once again. He's trained by an Australian in David Hayes and ridden by an Australian in Zac Purton. The plan was launched some time ago now to bring him to Australia for his inaugural win last year and that attracted the attention not only of the Australian media both in racing, but the media beyond and media across the world. It's only intensified as he attempts to go back-to-back. It's looks like the weather has intervened a little bit and that's probably the only question mark that people have got on their lips this week as to whether or not he can overcome a very wet track.”The Everest was first run in 2017 and it was based on the same concept that was in place during the early years of the GI Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream. Racing NSW and the Australian Turf Club sell 12 starting slots to buyers–known as Slot Holders–for a multi-year commitment at a cost of $700,000 AUD per year. While that concept proved to be unsustainable when it comes to the Pegasus, it has been the building block that has turned the Everest into a major event and race that is unparalleled purse-wise when it comes to grass racing.“The slot holders, throughout the years, have grown to accept the conditions of the race,” Witham said. “It helps that the stud farms generally own a lot of the slots, as do some of the bigger racing syndicates and bigger stables. They want to showcase their horses so that when they do go to stud they have the benefit perhaps of being an Everest winner. So there are a number of layers to the people who get involved in terms of the slot ownership in this country. It's proven to be a very successful method.”Unlike in the U.S. Australian racing is on an upswing and efforts to attract younger people to the sport have been successful.“It's the promotion of racing and that is probably the key,” Witham said. “And there's the availability of racing. One of biggest differences I notice between the U.S. and Australia is the availability of racing and the availability of being able to place a wager on racing. The U.S. is a little bit behind in that sense. They're catching up a little bit now, but here in Australia you've been able to wager on your phone for more than 20 years. There are so many corporate bookmakers here in Australia. There is so much promotion of racing, and the mainstream media also promotes racing here regularly and especially around the times of our spring and fall carnivals. This week there has been huge blanket coverage of racing throughout not only racing media but also through mainstream media. People are keen to get involved in it. People see going to the races as one of the great social outings there is during the spring. The girls can get dressed up and the guys can get into their suits. They promote racing so well as a place to go and be seen and mingle.”As for the “Fastest Horse of the Week,” there were two. Ryan's Run (Runhappy), the winner of the West Virginia Russell Road Breeders Classic Stakes at Charles Town, and Keeneland allowance Facteur Cheval (Ire) (Ribchester ({Ire}) both earned 99 Beyer figures. The Fastest Horse of the Week is sponsored by WinStar Farm, which stands the sire Tappan Street. Elsewhere on the podcast, which is also sponsored by the PHBA, 1/ST TV, Sky Racing and West Point Thoroughbreds, the team of Randy Moss and Bill Finley spoke about the chaos at Turf Paradise, Sheikh Mohammed's spending spree at the Tattersalls sale, Mike Repole's purchase of 1 million shares of stock in Churchill Downs and Inc., and reviewed last Saturday's GI Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Keeneland.To watch the podcast video replay, click here. For audio version only, click here.The post Australian Racing Expert Jason Witham Joins The TDN Writers’ Room Podcast Presented by Keeneland appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.