Ciaron Maher says Tempted has “definitely got a chance” of beating Ka Ying Rising in The Everest, even after getting a close look at the Hong Kong champion in quarantine at Canterbury on Friday and describing him as “a freak of nature”.
Maher was speaking to Seven Horse Racing after Tempted won the G2 Premiere Stakes at Randwick on Saturday. It was her fifth straight win since she finished second to Ka Ying Rising in last year’s Everest.
“I did look at Ka Ying Rising – I was in quarantine at Canterbury on Friday – and he is an absolute machine,” Maher said. “Ka Ying is a freak of nature and he looks fantastic, but I am rapt with Tempted. We’ve definitely got a chance.”
The Godolphin four-year-old started the $1.60 favourite and beat Savvy Hallie by three lengths over 1200m on a track rated Soft 6, running 1:09.39. Marhoona was third.
Tempted has now won seven of her eight starts at Randwick. Her only defeat at the track came against Ka Ying Rising in The Everest 12 months ago, and she returns there for the rematch on October 17.
“She just loves Randwick – her record speaks for itself,” Maher said.
On Saturday, Tempted settled ninth of the 12 runners while the leaders went hard. According to Punter’s Intelligence sectional data, Mazu, who led from the 800m, ran the second and third 200m sections of the race in 10.65 and 10.91 seconds, and the horses around him were also running under 11.
Maher liked what he saw from the stands.
“I was rapt to see those sub-11s being reeled off because we were obviously back in the field,” he said.
Tempted was 10th passing the 600m, more than a second behind Mazu, and still 10th at the 400m. She ran the next 200m in 10.53 seconds, the fastest section recorded by any runner in the race, and was third at the 200m before drawing clear. Her last 600m of 33.03 seconds was almost half a second quicker than any other horse in the field, and her top speed of 70km/h was also the best. Mazu and Weeping Woman, who both raced on the speed, finished 10th and 11th.
Jockey Chad Schofield said that is how the mare likes to race.
“There’s no doubt she likes stalking and then she loves running past, and it fills her up with confidence,” Schofield said.
Schofield also told Sky Racing that she has improved a great deal since last year’s Everest.
“I’d say she’s twice the horse she was then,” he said. “I think she loved a bit of juice in the track there, and she’s going to be even better on Everest Day.”
Assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord believes Ka Ying Rising’s high cruising speed could work in Tempted’s favour, because the mare still waits for her rivals once she hits the front.
“Every horse is beatable on the day,” Gerard-Dubord told Sky Racing. “She quickens so well, but every time she gets to the front, she still waits for them. So if she’s got something to chase for a bit longer, I think there’s a bit more there.”
Last year Tempted carried 51kg under Craig Williams and was beaten 1.15 lengths by Ka Ying Rising, who had 58.5kg. This time Ka Ying Rising gives her two kilos.
“You have to consider the weights. She had a lightweight last year, so she needs to be a lot better,” Gerard-Dubord said. “Physically she probably hasn’t changed a lot, but mentally she’s so bombproof now.”
Ka Ying Rising has won seven straight races since that Everest. At his most recent start he broke his own Sha Tin track record in 1:06.11 for a 21st consecutive win.
“Ka Ying, if he’s at his best, is very hard to beat, but he will have to be at his best,” Gerard-Dubord said.
The track and weather conditions could also come into it. Ka Ying Rising has raced only once on a surface rated slower than Good, when he won the Chief Executive’s Cup on Good to Yielding ground at Sha Tin in September 2024. Zac Purton said last week the champion remains untested on genuinely soft ground.
“If you get a soft track in Australia, there’s no doubt they’re not running that time. So he’s untried on the ground,” Purton said.
Gerard-Dubord said that was not a concern for Tempted.
“The good thing about her is she goes on any ground and she’s got such a good turn of foot, so a high-pressure race will suit her,” he said.
Maher’s stable has used the third-up path to The Everest before, with Bella Nipotina and Jimmysstar. Think About It won the Premiere Stakes in 2023 and then won The Everest.
Maher said he was grateful Godolphin had trusted his team with the mare.
“I am so glad Godolphin entrusted our team to train a horse like that,” he said. “We went through last prep unbeaten, she is unbeaten this time in and we are going into the target race with their horse in their slot.” ∎
