The Anthony and Sam Freedman stable sprint star Santa Ana Lane, who was announced earlier this week as Coolmore’s Everest slot holder, will have his lead-in run to the $15 million feature in Saturday’s Gilgai Stakes.
Santa Ana Lane will be competing in The Everest for the third successive year.
He finished sixth in the 2018 renewal and second last year and Freedman said they were following the same pattern as 12 months ago.
Santa Ana Lane finished second to Sunlight in last year’s Gilgai Stakes before filling the same position behind Yes Yes Yes in The Everest.
“He’s going well. With his age he’s not getting any faster but he’s come to hand well,” Freedman said.
“He has a nice base fitness going into the race. He’s about 85 to 90 per cent. This will top him off for the Everest.
“He hasn’t won first-up for years but he is weighted very well. He’ll sit out the back and run on strongly.”
The stable also has Warning in the Turnbull Stakes and Freedman says they will be looking for him to run on well.
The 2019 Victoria Derby winner, Warning is also being aimed at the Melbourne Cup.