Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club
Trainer David Hayes has confirmed another tilt at the A$20 million Gr.1 The Everest (1200m) is on the cards for Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) after the Hong Kong star underlined his champion status with an Everest victory for the ages on Saturday.
Back in Hong Kong less than 24 hours after Saturday’s triumph, Hayes soaked in the satisfaction of the victory as he looked forward to the five-year-old gelding’s return home.
“He is a champion, and he got the job done,” Hayes told RSN. “There is always a bit of pressure saddling up a champion as you don’t want them to let everyone down and he certainly didn’t do that.
“Zac Purton just rode the perfect race. He put him in the right spot, and he won and I thought on the line it was pretty soft.”
Despite the comfortable 1.15 length margin over the Ciaron Maher-trained pair of Tempted and Jimmysstar, Hayes said the performance didn’t rank amongst the best from the world’s best sprinter, but the achievement was among the most satisfying.
“He has certainly been more impressive a couple of times, but considering you factor in the travelling and all of the moving targets that he had, for me it was the most rewarding,” Hayes said.
“But for the horse’s PB, I would say it would be about his fourth or fifth best performance. But his tenth-best performance is better than anything in Australia. He is a true superstar.”
It is now all systems go for the son of Shamexpress as he looks to defend his title in December’s Gr.1 Hong Kong International Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin.
“He has pulled up well and he is on the plane on Monday back to Hong Kong and he is being targeted for the International Sprint,” Hayes said.
“He may have a lead-up race depending on what weight he is and how he is thriving when he gets back.
“He will have been in solitary confinement for six weeks when he comes out, so it’s a massive effort to do that. When horses travel to other parts of the world, they don’t have to quarantine.”
The Kiwi bred star was booed onto the track by Sydney racegoers but quickly turned foe to fan.
“Zac and I were a little bit surprised. We thought they were going to give him a nice roar when he came onto the track, but they booed him,” Hayes said.
“But they received him very well after he won. I’ve been booed after races but not before, but it soon switched to cheers. It was a very exciting and well-received win.”
A return to Sydney next year is now very much on the radar.
“Everything will be targeted towards the Everest, if he gets invited and gets a slot, we would dearly love to come back if he is in form,” Hayes said.
“I will only bring him back if I think he is in form and do the best by the horse.”
Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club
The Randwick victory also sparked celebrations across the Tasman, headed by Fraser and Erin Auret, who bred Ka Ying Rising under their Grandmoral Lodge Racing banner.
The Marton couple along with their children Milton, 12, Oscar, 10, and Grace, 8, donned their Ka Ying Rising supporter socks and caps as they gathered at home with around 20 family and friends to cheer home the sprint sensation.
By Windsor Park Stud stallion Shamexpress, Ka Ying Rising is out of the Per Incanto mare Missy Moo, a winner of five races.
Ka Ying Rising is the first horse Fraser Auret, a Group One winning trainer in his own right, has bred.
A young Ka Ying Rising was aptly nicknamed ‘Rocket’ by the Auret children, and he immediately showed above average ability.
Fraser Auret prepared a young Ka Ying Rising to win a Levin jumpout as a two-year-old before his private sale to David Hayes via bloodstock agent Mike Morais.
The Aurets along with a parochial New Zealand thoroughbred breeding fraternity continue to take great pride as Ka Ying Rising conquers the sprinting world as the winner of 15 of his 17 starts and more than A$20 million in prizemoney.
“It has been a heck of a journey that he has taken us all on,” Fraser Auret said. “It seems like only yesterday he was a cute little foal running around, so it is certainly a pinch yourself moment.
“A lot of people have been involved with his journey and everyone has loved every minute of it.”
