She Will Reign and The Everest might have brought the unlikely pair of Chinese billionaire Yuesheng Zhang and Warwick Farm trainer Gary Portelli together but it took pigeons for them to bond.

Shared passions: Slot-holder Yuesheng Zhang, fellow pigeon racer Gary Portelli and She Will Reign at the Gary Portelli stables in Warwick Farm. Photo: Wolter Peeters

Zhang visited Portelli's stable during the week to see the flying filly that he had tried to buy twice and failed. However, he now finally has a share in She Will Reign after buying a $600,000 slot in the $10 million Everest sweepstakes.

"It was funny because he doesn't speak much English and when he had the horse he was very quiet but when we took him into my pigeon loft he was in his element," Portelli said.

"He was catching birds and we were communicating in pigeon after that.

"He loves his birds and won an $800,000 race in China, now hopefully I can win the biggest horse race in the world for him."

Zhang fell in love with She Will Reign after her first win in near record time at Kembla Grange and made six-figure offers for the Manhattan Rain filly, which cost $20,000, before she won the Golden Slipper.

"I have liked her for a long time," Zhang said through an interpreter. "When The Everest was announced I brought a slot and she was only horse I wanted to run for me.

"She is a very quick horse."

Unabashed fan: Yuesheng Zhang failed twice tried to buy She Will Reign. Photo: Wolter Peeters

Zhang's Yu Long Investments was the first slot-holder to lock in an Everest runner when it did a deal with Darby Racing and the owner of She Will Reign.

It has allowed Portelli to focus on The Everest and he continues to be amazed by the Golden Slipper winner, which returned by beating the older horses in the Moir Stakes last month.

"It is funny going into this race I'm not nervous at all because I know she is going great," Portelli said. "There are no little niggles and every piece of work has been good.

"There is extra pressure when someone like Mr Zhang has the faith in the filly to buy $600,000 to have her in the race. But she has never let us down.

"All I know is that she hasn't put a foot wrong and every time she has been asked to step up she has.

"We still don't know where this is going to end. It is like a never-ending dream."