In racing and punting, sitting on the fence means nothing to anyone so here it is, Ka Ying Rising can’t win the $20 million The TAB Everest on Saturday.

Full stop. It’s that simple.

Before the Hong Kong champ stepped out in a barrier trial at Randwick last Tuesday, I thought The Everest was his and the rest were running for second. But a week later, I reckon his odds-on quote is doing punters a favour and it’s making the market for the others.

READ: ‘It is all fake news’: Ka Ying Rising dispels Everest fitness doubts

Forget the fake news that floated around over the weekend suggesting the Hong Kong superstar was injured or off his feed. There’ll be no excuses come Saturday. His trainer David Hayes has declared his sprinting superstar fit and ready to go.

Now, David Hayes is a legendary trainer but he’s even better at handling the media and delivering a few beauties. Hayes was chest-pumping about his champ running 38 seconds at Canterbury on Monday morning. A few of you reading this would go close to that!

His best line came when discussing Ka Ying Rising’s recent trial.

“The two he trialled against the other morning, Joliestar and Angel Capital they’ll have to find eight or nine lengths, as we were going just as easy as them in the trial, so I think we have them covered.”

Hahahahahahahaha — one of your best, Hayesy.

For the media, Hayes maintained a brave face following the trial, but Ka Ying Rising looked well below what most expected. Can he get him spot on for Saturday? That’s the million-dollar question.

In an incredible twist, Hayes even suggested the biggest danger to Ka Ying Rising could be War Machine, trained by his sons. He was also respectful of Briasa and Lady Shenandoah, classy from the master.

As I said, there’s none better than the great David Hayes when it comes to promoting the sport and playing the media game.

One final note … win, lose, or draw, Ka Ying Rising’s trip Down Under for The Everest has been the biggest thing to happen to Sydney racing since Winx’s farewell.

Good luck, everyone.

The Everest markets were briefly suspended on Sunday amid speculation around the fitness of favourite Ka Ying Rising, but trainer David Hayes remains adamant the sprinter is on song and will gallop on Monday at Canterbury. Story: @MitchRWCohen 👇https://t.co/ploRU9KVkx

— Racenet (@RacenetTweets) October 12, 2025

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EMBRACE THE NOW – CRACK A SMILE

I’m continually amazed by those in the comments section of my column who like to say how they preferred racing without the glitz and glamour associated with The Everest. They liked racing in the old days.

Well hello, what about looking at the facts. Just ten years ago Sydney’s big raceday crowds had shrunk to around 15,000 and media interest was close to zero.

Racing in Sydney was close to becoming a thing of the past when you were talking major sport.

Enter the stage Peter V’landys with the glitz and glamour and “pop up” races like The Everest.

Perhaps a few of you old timers need to sing a few verses of Sweet Caroline and get with it, get with the action. Accept things are better in 2025.

There will be a full house of 50,000 in attendance at Randwick on Saturday and there would be 100,000 if we had the accommodation.

Racing in Sydney is booming.

Come on, after me all of you lot who are stuck in the mud and won’t move with the times,

1-2-3 …

“Hands

Touchin’ hands

Reachin’ out

Touching me, touchin’ you

Sweet Caroline …

Good times never seemed so good”

There you go, wasn’t too hard, was it? And good times ARE HERE and we are getting the younger generation on board.

46,498 fans packed Royal Randwick in 2023 for the #TABEverest! On SAT 19 OCT you can join the chorus of ‘Sweet Caroline’ on Sydney’s biggest race day.

Grab your tickets NOW and get ready for the time of your life – we can’t wait to see you again! pic.twitter.com/BBPHZgiHTU

— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) September 18, 2024

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WALLER – SUPERCARS – AUTUMN BOY – EXPERIENCES

So where did Chris Waller unwind after his fabulously successful Saturday winning the $3m Caulfield Guineas with Autumn Boy and the $2m Hill Stakes with Lindermann?

He chased more horsepower, that’s what he did, spending Sunday at the Bathurst 1000 watching the Ford Mustangs and the Chevrolet Camaros zoom around a wet Mount Panorama at even faster speeds than his stable stars can muster.

Waller is a great student of how racing can attract new supporters and he paid close attention to how the rev heads entertain their tens of thousands of fans.

As expensive as a high-performance car is, not one of those on display at Bathurst would be worth as much as Autumn Boy.

The son of The Autumn Sun, which went through the Magic Millions sale ring for $200,000 in January 2024, would now be worth in the vicinity of $15m to $25m.

Autumn Boy was spotted by Waller’s bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster and when the trainer first saw him he was taken by his likeness to his dad, The Autumn Sun.

He was purchased on behalf of Glen Ritchie, a retired Kiwi bus proprietor, who has sunk a fortune into establishing a top racing team and it is great to see him reaping a big reward.

The Autumn Sun was trained by Waller to win the 2018 Caulfield Guineas and it is giving the trainer a great boost to now win Group One races with his sons and daughters like Autumn Boy and Autumn Glow, which won last week’s Epsom.

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WODETON BETTER THAN DISAPPOINTING RUN

While those who backed Autumn Boy in his Guineas victory were high fiving each other and guzzling champagne, those who backed his stablemate, the $2.80 race favourite Wodeton, were left flat.

Wodeton’s 10th place finish was the worst he has turned in during a nine-start career, which, although boasting only one win, includes second placings in the Group One Golden Slipper as a two-year-old and the Group One Golden Rose as a three-year-old.

There is no denying he was disappointing on Saturday even though his starting price was exaggerated by the JMac tax.

What do we make of it?

I actually hate the cliche “Ëvery horse can turn in a bad run” but it might just be the case this time with Wodeton. He’s better than that.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON ☀️

Autumn Boy wins a dramatic Caulfield Guineas, joining his sire The Autumn Sun as a Guineas Champion! Damian Lane and Chris Waller go back-to-back in the 3YO Classic 🤝 pic.twitter.com/XztL6fOBNU

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) October 11, 2025

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MISSED THE BOAT BY NOT WATCHING THE GLOBE

I’d honestly love to know Darren Beadman, Jimmy Cassidy or Ron Quinton’s fair dinkum thoughts about the rides of Damian Lane and James McDonald on Treasurethe Moment and Buckaroo in the Might And Power Stakes on Saturday.

When Blake Shinn on Globe was allowed to dawdle for 400 to 600 metres at the start of the race and still open up a four-length lead, surely Lane and McDonald realised that Globe was going to have a tank full of petrol when it mattered.

I absolutely promise you champions like Beadman and Quinton would have ridden the two favourites differently.

With that said, take nothing away from Globe which was absolutely outstanding in victory.

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QUEENSLANDERS WINNING AND WINNING

Big congrats to Tony Gollan and his team of Queenslanders for Transatlantic’s super win in the Group One Toorak Handicap.

Aided by a brilliant Mark Zahra ride, Transatlantic was too good.

Now for the big one for the Queenslanders, the Cox Plate on Saturday week.

Can Antino do it? Can it be shades of Strawberry Road and Vo Rogue as the Queenslanders clean up Australia.

Don’t forget they have already done it in the last few weeks in the AFL, NRL and NRLW fields.

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TURNING THE CLOCK FOR SUCCESS

The feel good win on Saturday was Giga Kick’s first success since May 13, 2023 when he won the Schillaci Stakes at Caulfield.

Even if you didn’t back him you had to give the old warrior a big cheer and what a job his trainer Clayton Douglas has done with the horse.

Giga, one of the horse’s who helped put The Everest on the map, has now won eight from 18 and amassed $13,078,700.

Another horse who returned to the winning list on the weekend after a long absence was Cindy Alderson’s old marvel Jigsaw which won the Apache Cat Classic at Cranbourne on Friday night.

Jigsaw has won 10 races and over $1.1m in prizemoney, but his previous win was two and a half years ago in April 2023 when he won the Hareeba Classic at Mornington.

It was Jigsaw’s second win in the Apache Cat Classic having also won the race in 2022.

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HEADLEY READY TO DANCE ON THE GRANGE

Headley Grange has won five of his last six starts including the Cameron Handicap at Newcastle and Saturday’s $1.5m Alan Brown Stakes at Rosehill where he came from the outside stall of the 17 runners.

So what happened to him in the middle of the run in the South Grafton Cup in July, where he started at $2.25 and finished sixth of 10?

I don’t know, perhaps he didn’t like the long trip North, perhaps he just had an off day.

I hope you didn’t back him. It’s a cruel game sometimes.

So what to next for Headley Grange?

The Big Dance at Randwick on Melbourne Cup Day is what is next and what a field it is going to be.

Others ready for the Dance include Gringotts, Saltcoats, Tavi Time and Sunday’s Coonamble Cup winner Justadeel.

Justadeel is trained by the Hayes Boys, Ben, Will and J.D. and he made the 850km trip to Coonamble on Sunday just to try and qualify for the Dance.

That’s the beauty of the race, it adds so much to so many other races. Would the Hayes boys have had a runner at Coonamble if it wasn’t for the Big Dance? Of course not.

The Big Dance has put life back into Melbourne Cup Day at Randwick, but for all of you mob who are stuck in the time rut, yes, it is another Pop-Up race.

But get with it folks, enjoy the new innovations instead of rolling along like you used to.

If you are not careful I’ll strike up another verse of Sweet Caroline.

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WOW, HOW QUICK DO YOU WANT TO GO?

A couple of jocks, Rachel King and Molly Bourke, must have thought there was a special prize to get to the turn first at Rosehill on Saturday.

It is a long time since a horse has set up as big a lead in a 1200m black type race as King set up on Bonita Queen in the Group Two The Nivison and Bourke was absolutely hellbent on getting past Gringotts and getting to the lead on Felix Majestic in the $1.5m Alan Brown Stakes.

Perhaps they got it a little wrong.

Bonita Queen wound up 12th of 14 and Felix Majestic 15th of 17.

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ZAC GUNNING FOR TOP DOG STATUS

He’s not quite in Super A grade class yet, but Zac Lloyd, 22, is getting there and getting there fast.

He had top trainers sitting up taking notice again with four winners at Rosehill on Saturday and all four were first rate rides, Modella, State Of America, Gangsta Granny and Roselyn’s Star.

Watch out JMac.

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BETTER THAN BIG BROTHER

Shangri La Boy is not generating quite the publicity his brother Storm Boy did, but he might finish up with a better race resume.

The ease with which he put away his 15 rivals in the Gloaming Stakes at Rosehill at just his third race start was impressive.

It is now full speed ahead for Saturday week’s G1 Spring Champion Stakes, 2000m, at Randwick.

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STEWARDS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND THEIR OWN ACTIONS

My item last week regarding stewards giving permission for jockeys to ride overweight was discussed in the corridors of power my mail suggests.

Us punters are happy with jockeys requiring an extra half or full kilo which is then announced.

The issue the punters have is then stewards then incredibly think it’s appropriate and fair to then announce some 30 minutes before a race the weight a horse will carry has changed.

For a fair-minded person it’s wrong and it’s the stewards who are seemingly breaking the rules of racing.

Punters have to ask: do the stewards understand what weights mean in racing?

Weights matter. And when they’re not enforced properly, the integrity of the whole system takes a hit.

Jockey Weight: 11-10-2025 Caulf R3 – Whisky On The Hill – D.Lane to ride at handicap weight, not half kilo over as previously advised.

— RVStewards (@RVStewards) October 11, 2025

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UMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

MY favourite tweet of the week.

🎤I’m here at Kempton ahead of an intriguing nine race card, where I hope to interview Toby Moore, son of multiple champion jockey Ryan, nephew of Jamie and Josh, racing personality Hayley and grandson of trainer Gary and ask him how he became involved in horseracing….. pic.twitter.com/45lsWbGjqA

— Uncle Ernie: Still following the gee-gees (@UncleErniesTips) October 10, 2025

Really?

On Saturday when a commentator announced Beadman could get that the last Everest slot and be a chance following his unlucky second to Hidden Motive in the Roman Consul Stakes. Ease up there, The Everest is A Grade.

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BLACKBOOKER – A WIN IS COMING

BREEDERS SUN – She was gallant in defeat at Goulburn on Tuesday behind the $1.35 favourite which signalled her time is coming. Being by The Autumn Sun she is only going to get better with racing and over further than the mile so stick with the John Sargent trained filly.

SPONARS – I liked the return of this 3yo gelding at Hawkesbury on Thursday when charging through the field from last to finish second. The run was always going to bring his fitness levels on and with a little further than the 1000m it won’t be long before he in the winner’s circle.

JOLLY GOOD FELLOW – He ran last of the four runners on Wednesday on the Kensington track but his run was pretty good and back in the right race he will be getting the chocolates. He was outsprinted at they came around the turn before he picked up late and hit the line soundly.

ELENA MONTERO – The 5yo mare was first up at Kilmore on Monday and after being forced to work three deep throughout her condition gave out and she battled away into third. The effort was solid and that run should her fitness levels up and she will be hard to hold out next start.