Matthew Smith is trying to plot a way to beat Ka Ying Rising for the first time in 1000 days, but he’s not silly enough not to know the importance of the legendary Hong Kong sprinter.
How else do you explain about 1500 people flocking to Royal Randwick for a barrier trial? Yes, a barrier trial.
“The sport needs horses like him,” the Sydney-based trainer tells Idol Horse. “It keeps the dream alive.
“People can go and buy a yearling and get a horse like Ka Ying Rising. He’s not the most royally bred horse, so he’s not out of reach for everybody. That’s what the game is all about.
“As a trainer, you love watching good horses. Whether you’ve got them, or someone else has them.”
Smith wishes he had Ka Ying Rising rather than trying to be the man to ‘kill Bambi’ in the A$20 million The Everest at Royal Randwick.
It will be Ka Ying Rising’s second time to race in Australia after winning the world’s richest turf race last year, albeit in a performance jockey Zac Purton described as “the worst of his season”.
It seems almost unfathomable Ka Ying Rising will taste defeat as he shoots for his 22nd straight victory. A wet track, where his wheels might spin and a light-footed Tempted skips through the ground? Maybe. Even then, you could fairly be accused of clutching at straws.
Maybe the story of the last few months tells the tale.
The scramble for slots in The Everest, usually a year-round circus, has halted. Owners know they’re probably running for place money. Slot-holders, who pay $700,000 per year for the privilege, know they’re probably trying to find a horse to run second.
How many would cash out right now if you offered them the chance for their money back without taking part in this year’s race? Plenty, you would imagine.
One of Australia’s top sprinters, the talented Smith-trained Headwall, is a confirmed starter.
He should have been in last year’s Everest before a setback ended his spring campaign. He was scratched from a planned start in the G2 Premiere Stakes last weekend, but Smith received a positive blood profile since, and allowed the horse an easy time when he finished fifth in a trial behind Ninja on Tuesday. Ka Ying Rising, perhaps a little uncomfortable on a wet track, finished a close second.
“The worst thing about Ka Ying Rising from everyone else’s perspective is he’s an adaptable horse,” Smith said. “He can race on speed, off speed and he’s not going to do anything silly if you put him on the bunny so to speak. Horses that are so good can adapt. He relaxes. He knows his job.
“There doesn’t appear to be too many chinks in his armour, apart from maybe a wet track. The only thing you hope is he can’t handle a wet track.
“On a good deck, you’d have to say he’s nearly unbeatable.”
Which is why every rival trainer will be doing a rain dance in the next week hoping a sticky surface can bring the usually sure-footed Ka Ying Rising, rated a $1.30 chance by most Australian bookmakers, undone.
Headwall is no Ka Ying Rising, undoubtedly the world’s best horse as the sun sets on 2026. But that’s not to say he doesn’t deserve a crack at the champion.
The Everest concept might not have worked in other countries outside of Australia, in part because it pitches the chance for small shareholders in a horse a chance at a life-changing prize.
A syndicated horse, Redzel, won the first two editions of the race. Ninja will line up this year with hundredsof owners who bought microshares in the galloper. Ninja is prepared by former Singapore and Hong Kong conditioner Michael Freedman.
Headwall’s ownership group is much smaller, but it doesn’t mean his story is less fascinating.
Headwall’s regular jockey early in his career, Blake Spriggs, suffered a life-threatening fall in early 2025. His injuries were many and severe: multiple broken ribs, a fractured collarbone, a lacerated liver and a bleed on the brain. He was flown to hospital, and doctors told Spriggs’ family it was touch and go whether he would survive.
After he made a slow recovery, a neurologist later advised Spriggs another knock to the brain or race fall would most likely kill him. He retired.
On Tuesday, Spriggs was among the crowd watching Headwall trial, and his influence on the horse’s upbringing wasn’t lost on Smith.
“He was a big part of his early career,” Smith said. “He won his maiden on him, he won The Warra on him. Blake has a real soft spot for the horse, and the owners have been great friends of Blake’s and mine. They’re great people. It’s become a rollercoaster for him, I’d say, emotionally and everybody.
“But Headwall’s probably one of the more credentialled sprinters that’s around at the moment. I keep saying it, but one day he’ll jump midfield and the heavens will open up. He’ll go bang. It will happen one day.
“He’s good enough to win a Group 1 over 1200 (metres), there’s no doubt about that. He’s been placed in them a number of times. It’s the right race for him. He should have a shot at it.” ∎
