David Hayes has told The Idol Horse Podcast that he is focussing his long-range plans on a shot at the 2025 Everest and not the Hong Kong Derby with his exciting stable star Ka Ying Rising, currently the searing hot favourite for the G1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on December 8.
But the two-time Hong Kong champion trainer also told host Andrew Le Jeune that he “can’t resist” giving the brilliant gelding a go at 1600m in the first leg of Hong Kong’s four-year-old series, the Classic Mile, in January, when Ka Ying Rising would face his own generation at set-weights.
“He won’t go for the Derby because we’ve got The Everest in mind,” Hayes told Le Jeune. “But we’re certainly going to run in the Classic Mile because he’s going to be probably 45lb (well-in) in the handicap.
“We just thought, we’ll just test him at the mile against his own age at weight-for-age where he’s beautifully in. Then we’ll back off and set him basically for The Everest via the international racing in (the spring) in Hong Kong.”
It is not unusual for a speedy candidate to stretch out through the three-race four-year-old series from a mile, through the Classic Cup at 1800m, to the 2000m of the Hong Kong Derby, and Le Jeune pressed Hayes as to whether there would be a temptation to continue to the Derby should Ka Ying Rising win the Classic Mile ‘hard held.’
“If he does win like a dollar ten pop, there’s a temptation that I’ll be advising not to take,” Hayes said.
The trainer told Le Jeune during the 15-minute interview that the two-turn Derby is a different test, altogether, to the one-turn mile and explained why the speedy Ka Ying Rising would be such a suitable candidate for the Classic Mile. He also offered some insight as to what makes Ka Ying Rising “a superstar” with such a high rating after 10 career starts, as well as outlining a bit of the background as to how the gelding was earmarked for Hong Kong.
Hayes also spoke about the progress of some of his current Hong Kong Derby prospects, and told Le Jeune that his sons Ben, Will and JD are targeting the G1 Champions Day fixture at Sha Tin in April with their own stable stalwart, Mr Brightside.
Le Jeune pointed out that it’s now 34 years since Hayes accompanied Better Loosen Up to Tokyo to win the G1 Japan Cup and the trainer spoke warmly of that experience and his own naivety at the time.
“Yeah, they had colour TV and everything,” he joked.
“Better Loosen Up was a world-class horse, often forgotten in the all-time greats … He won eight Group 1s in that 12 months, but I think to be remembered as an all-time great, you’ve got to last two or three seasons. And he had one golden season.”
His hope is that Ka Ying Rising’s own golden spell will take on greatness ∎
