Ka Ying Rising will head straight back to Hong Kong after the world’s richest sprint race next month, the G1 The Everest at Randwick, Australia, ruling out any possibility that he might go on and contest the G2 Russell Balding Stakes at the same track.
“That’s not happening,” the great gelding’s trainer David Hayes told Idol Horse when asked about online reports and speculation in the local Chinese-language media that the second Randwick contest was being considered now that his planned follow-up race in China had been ruled out and officially moved to Sha Tin.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) issued a press release Tuesday afternoon scheduling the G2 Jockey Club Sprint back in its usual place on the Jockey Club Races card on November 22. That race had been pencilled in as a curtain-raising showcase at the Club’s Conghua facility on November 21, but with the official launch of racing at Conghua on hold, it reverts to Sha Tin.
Ka Ying Rising’s presence had been a big aspect of the Jockey Club’s plans for Conghua’s first ‘international’ race day. But even though that factor has been removed, connections are sticking to the plan of contesting The Everest then returning to Hong Kong for the Group 2 contest as a lead-in to an anticipated third straight win in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint on December 13.
The Everest is a 12-runner race, offering 12 slots priced at AU$700,000 each. But slot holders don’t have to be horse owners and it is usual for deals to be struck between slot holders and the owners of horses eligible to race.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club bought a slot – on a two-year lease with the option to extend – from the Australian Turf Club (ATC) for Ka Ying Rising to race in the AU$20 million race, meaning the HKJC in this instance has more sway than it would usually have in determining where one of the stars racing under its jurisdiction might race.
“The Club paid a lot of money for the slot and have been fantastic, and they’re very keen to get him back as quickly as possible,” Hayes said.
“The Club have a lot of say, he’s not like a normal horse. The Club’s done a wonderful, generous thing: bought the slot for the syndicate, and on very generous terms. I think he could handle the two races (in Australia) very easily, but we wouldn’t go against them.
“And in case China is on, you know? It might be on or it might not be, but if he’s here at least he can compete somewhere.”
Hayes was “full-hearted behind the Conghua race” but is happy enough that the Jockey Club Sprint has now been scheduled at Sha Tin.
“He’s done a lot of work at Conghua, but I’d prefer it to be in Hong Kong, it’s a track he knows backwards, he can do it with his eyes shut and the surface is to his liking.”
Ka Ying Rising posted another sensational win at Sha Tin on Sunday which brought a three-point rise to his domestic rating, taking him to a Hong Kong high of 145. His official international rating is 131 but the expectation is that it will rise when the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) releases its latest World’s Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR) this week.
“Historically, it’s a nice thing, isn’t it?” Hayes said of the prospect of having Ka Ying Rising’s rating lifted higher. “I’d be surprised if he didn’t get a point or two for the effort, breaking the course record by a second and looking so dominant, he doesn’t have pacemakers, he doesn’t have horses helping him, he does it himself.
“I think that’s a point people overlook a bit, don’t they? The European super horses all have horses helping them, whereas we don’t. And, so, I think he deserves to stand alone at the top at the moment and hopefully after the Everest he will.
“I’m a massive fan of Black Caviar, and it’s silly comparing years, and comparing Frankels and Black Caviars, but isn’t it nice you’ve got a horse that people can compare to them? They’re all-time greats and I think he’s fast becoming one.”
That latest victory came after what Hayes described as “a pretty hectic week” in which there was a ripple of an injury fear when Ka Ying Rising had his hoof checked out.
“Because he was going to Australia and there was a scare with his foot, the Jockey Club really didn’t want to take any chances,” Hayes said. “So, he was in the hospital for probably a good part of six or seven hours on Tuesday, getting checked out. And that’s that’s far from ideal going into a race, but he handled it very easily: amazing horse.”
Ka Ying Rising will depart for Sydney in two weeks’ time, after he has completed the mandatory pre-departure quarantine, which means a schedule change for the horse and his trainer.
“I’ve got a lot of very early mornings because he has to work before the tracks open here, so it’s going to be a busy time,” Hayes said but noted his stable star’s ability to roll with whatever comes his way.
“They’re doing these fantastic stable refurbishments here and it’s my stable’s turn to get done up, so we’ve moved into another stable and all the horses, apart from two, didn’t eat up for four days. But ‘Ka Ying’ ate up every day. He just has a freakish constitution.” ∎
