Amidst the free-flowing Dom Perignon and congratulatory backslaps in the winning owners’ room at Royal Randwick after Ka Ying Rising’s astonishing The Everest win, David Hayes and owner Leung Shek-kong made one thing very clear: “We’ll be back.”
When the Australian Turf Club’s Nevesh Ramdhani closed the door to the plush suite and the noise from the packed-out crowd disappeared, Leung’s travelling party, along with a few Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) officials, David and Prue Hayes, and Nicole Purton, grabbed a flute of champagne and turned to the two big screens that were showing a replay of the race on repeat.
There was almost a collective sigh of relief. They had completed their audacious international mission and connections could barely believe it.
After some congratulatory words from the chairman of the ATC, Tim Hale, and Tabcorp’s chief executive, Gillon McLachlan, the baton was passed to Leung to offer a speech.
The owner, whom HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges called “one of the biggest supporters of Hong Kong racing,” is not usually afraid of the spotlight, often seen standing front and centre in winning photos in his colourful array of suits.
But Leung was taken aback when he stepped up to the microphone.
“Thanks for the support of the Hong Kong Jockey Club in all aspects, I’m really really touched,” he said, having to step away momentarily as he choked up.
“I would also like to thank the Hayes team. There’s a team sent to Sydney for a whole month to get him well prepared for the race. They did a great job training and taking care of Ka Ying Rising. I would like to thank Zac for his fantastic ride, a very good jump and amazing technique. I would like to thank you for the support from all the fans in Hong Kong.”
It didn’t take long for Hayes to start talking about next year’s race. The showman, who jokingly called bookmakers “silly buggers” immediately after the race for offering even money about Ka Ying Rising, was more than happy to pose for selfies with his Everest trophy after the presentation.
After one of his photos with a group of lads, who were carrying cans of Jim Beam bourbon and cola in one hand and Ka Ying Rising flags in the other, Hayes put his hand to his mouth and shouted “see you next year” which was met with rapturous cheers.
Behind closed doors in the winning owners’ room, he stopped for a moment and gazed longingly into his Everest trophy in its presentation box. The realisation of what he and all the team had achieved was setting in.
“There are so many people to thank,” he said when he stepped up to the microphone.
“I’ve got a wonderful team of staff and the pressure the boys were under when that Twitter attack happened – thank god they don’t read English very well – but they did a fantastic job.
“Of course there’s Zaccy Purton the pessimist. He rides more short-priced horses than anyone and gets the job done.”
After thanking the HKJC and ATC, Hayes also admitted that he has now found himself spending a bit too much time on X – formerly Twitter – after his wife, Prue, taught him how to use it following the Ka Ying Rising rumours that spread on the platform last week.
“I’m sure I’ve missed so many people, like my wife, who’s put up with me for the last 10 days,” he said. “She taught me how to use Twitter and god I wish she didn’t. I’m addicted now – just as a follower, not a user though.”
He ended his speech much in the way Leung did, looking ahead to The Everest 2026. The trainer mentioned they will likely “rinse and repeat” this campaign, providing all goes well from now onwards.
More immediately, Ka Ying Rising will return to Hong Kong on Tuesday and be trained out of Sha Tin’s quarantine stables until November 4. The five-year-old will be prepared for a defence of December’s Hong Kong Sprint, after which he will likely target the same programme as last season – January’s Centenary Sprint Cup, February’s Queen Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m and April’s G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize on Champions Day.
His success in Sydney was summed up by Engelbrecht-Bresges following the monumental day for Hong Kong racing.
“He’s an absolute global champion and it was great to see the reception from the crowd, who recognised they were watching a global champion,” he said. “It shows that, if you bring world class racing, you can make it a real global sport.” ∎
