Distance: 1200m.
Conditions: A slot race, so slot owners do deals to secure a horse to race for them.
Who: Kiwi-bred Ka Ying Rising, Cambridge Stud-owned Joliestar and
NZ-owned Jimmysstar headline the 12 starters.
TAB says: Ka Ying Rising is the $1.40 favourite after drawing barrier 11.
David Hayes is undeterred by Kiwi-bred champion Ka Ying Rising being tasked with creating more history after drawing barrier 11 in the A$20 million The Everest at Randwick Racecourse on Saturday.
In nine previous runnings of The Everest, no horse has been successful from the second-widest gate, although Bella Nipotina won from barrier 12 in 2024 when it was an 11-runner race due to a late scratching, but Hayes is undaunted by the challenge facing the world’s highest-rated horse.
Ka Ying Rising won the 2025 The Everest from gate seven under Zac Purton.
Hayes said the Australian system of loading horses into the barrier, where the field is split into two divisions and loaded outwards – in the case of The Everest from gates one and gate seven – means Ka Ying Rising will be among the last horses to enter the barriers.
“I know Zac will be happy because he goes in second last, with the Australian way they load. In Hong Kong, he normally goes in last and he’s a bit fidgety in the gates, and that’s the little thing that can go wrong,” Hayes said.
“He’s so fast, he can cruise across. If the tempo’s too fast for him, he’ll sit second or third, and if it’s not fast, he’ll lead.
“I’d be more worried about getting boxed in from [barriers] one, two or three.
“If he had a slow jump, I think he’ll be out of trouble, and the Randwick 1200 is wonderful – you’ve got a nice, long run to get across, so not chaotic like Sha Tin. Sha Tin, you’ve only got 200m and he still makes it easy to get across, doesn’t he?”
Bidding to extend his winning streak to 22, a record for a Hong Kong-trained horse, Ka Ying Rising will face 11 rivals this weekend with several of last season’s opponents returning for a second tilt at Hong Kong’s champion, including Tempted (second last year), Jimmysstar (third), Joliestar (fifth) and Angel Capital (sixth).
Tempted drew barrier one for Saturday’s contest, Jimmysstar jumps from gate eight and Angel Capital will start from barrier two, while Ninja – who shaded Ka Ying Rising in a recent 1000m barrier trial at Randwick – will begin from barrier three.
Hayes was less concerned with barriers than the prospect of a heavy track as Randwick soaked under 24 millimetres of rain on Tuesday.
“I’d be more worried about a heavy 10 than barrier 11.
“Luckily that was Tuesday. If it was Friday, I’d be a bit worried,” Hayes said of Tuesday night’s rain.
“It was always going to be a lot of rain on Tuesday.”
“I’ve seen him on wet ground. One day he won on a genuine yielding track, but his time was of a fast track, and the other races were yielding to slow.
“I’d be really worried going to the races if it was heavy. If it’s dead, I’m sure he’ll handle dead and I’m pretty comfortable he’ll handle slow and I really don’t know on heavy. Aussie heavy is different to Hong Kong heavy.”
— HKJC news.
Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.