Trainer David Hayes says it was March last year when he truly realised Ka Ying Rising was a genuine superstar.
For jockey Zac Purton, that moment came about seven months later, when the gelding ran a record time in Hong Kong.
Ka Ying Rising is the world’s best horse, in Sydney to try to pinch the $20m Everest at Randwick on Saturday.
Such is the interest that around 50 journalists from Hong Kong will be trackside to report on the thoroughbred that has captured the imagination of equine enthusiasts around the globe.
Hayes and Purton have been well aware of the hype for a long, long time, and this week recalled the moments when Ka Ying Rising blew their minds.
“He was in a class-three race, which is like a Randwick group three or listed race, he had topweight, the outside barrier, he was giving weight to the older horses on a wet track, and I thought, ‘This is a risk’,” said Hayes, in reference to Ka Ying Rising’s fifth career start at Sha Tin.
David Hayes runs his eye over Ka Ying Rising at Canterbury this week.Credit: Steve Siewert/SMH
“But he torched them. He killed them that day. I thought, ‘Wow, you are very special’. And from then on, he’s been doing special things.”
Purton said of that March race: “It was a good performance that day. But I’d seen plenty of horses at a similar stage of their careers put up a performance like that, and not go on with it.
