His forlorn figure summed it up, the highs and lows of racing.

The jubilation of being part of the world's richest turf race, the $10 million Everest, had been replaced by worry about the health of his horse.

Hoping nothing was seriously wrong with the sprint star that had taken the Canberra builder on an amazing ride to the inaugural running of the mega race.

His mate Matt McIntyre joked at least they were "the first horse to come last in The Everest".

Cappello didn't laugh. It was one of the rare times he didn't at one of his landscaping mate's jokes.

"It's a dream. That's my first horse. Since that I've bought 10 horses it's been such an enjoyable [journey]. This has been good too, but I honestly didn't think that was how it was going to pan out," he said.

"On his day, Swoop's a beautiful thing. I just hope he's alright ... that's racing yeah. I don't know what to say, I'm just broken. Such a big hype and then to finish out the back."

Now the concern was all for the horse.

Everyone involved with Fell Swoop knows he tries as hard as the day is long and when he dropped out of contention coming into the home straight both trainer Matthew Dale and jockey Tye Angland knew something was wrong.

Canberra Times sports coming live from Randwick ahead of the $10m Everest. Canberra horse Fell Swoop is our hope in the mega rich race and David Polkinghorne is joined by co-owner Ian De Landelles and Inglis' Peter Fitzgerald.Posted by The Canberra Times on Friday, October 13, 2017

It left the connections all hoping the diagnosis wasn't serious and their beloved sprinter would be OK to race again.

In the end it turned out the six-year-old gelding had thumps, essentially a case of hiccups, but with horses it's more serious, although treatable, and will mean his spring is done.

That had been the main concern from the owners, as they slid down the slopes of the Everest.

McIntyre said the interest in the race and Fell Swoop had been massive as he got messages from "friends I didn't even know I had".

When he'd first heard about it, he joked about "stumping up $600 grand" to run in it.

Then Inglis came on board and bought one of the 12 slots and invited Dale and Fell Swoop to come on board and the dream became a reality.

"I said to everyone, 'Be positive, we're the first horse to run last in The Everest'. No one can take that away from us," McIntyre laughed.

"Just to be in it is bloody awesome. If that horse wasn't here I'd be sitting at home on the couch, or running around with the kids, but it's taken us to a lot of good places.

"Today's just as good a day as anything. Disappointed in the run, it didn't work out, but it's always a good day out. You just hope he's alright mate. I've never seen him stop like he did today, as long as he's alright."

Chris Hately, a public servant, likened the atmosphere to being Queensland State of Origin legend Cameron Smith walking out for the NRL decider.

He and all the other owners marched out of the tunnel from the Theatre of the Horse in front of a 33,512-strong crowd - a record since Randwick's redevelopment.

They crammed into the owners yards in their little groups, the Fell Swoop group conspicuous in their blue Inglis caps - bringing back memories of Makybe Diva when she made the Melbourne Cup her own.

"Walking up that tunnel's like Cameron Smith and Cooper Cronk walking out for a grand final and you just think, 'Are we really here?'," Hately said.