INSIDE TRACK: From Sha Tin calm to Sydney chaos: Ka Ying Rising’s Everest rehearsal

On Tuesday in Sydney, Ka Ying Rising will contest one of the most high-profile barrier trials in racing history. It is a crucial chance to simulate the pressures of Everest day at Randwick.

“Well, the whole idea is that it is at Randwick,” Hayes said. “He’s going to trial at the same place he will race. So it’s a full dress rehearsal. For all the staff, they’ve never been on an Australian racecourse either, so it’s to give them the race day experience and everyone will get the practice.”

That practice is as much about preparing for the pre-race atmosphere as it is about the race itself.
Ka Ying Rising’s preparation has been meticulous ever since his Everest slot was confirmed. Every decision is geared toward having the horse ready to run the race of his life on October 18 at Randwick. The Everest will last just over a minute but the race could be won or lost before the gates open.

Ka Ying Rising is currently housed at the quiet quarantine barns across town in Canterbury, but on Tuesday morning he will make the trip to Sydney’s eastern suburbs for his Randwick trial. The Australian Turf Club is even promoting the trial with free entry – plus bacon and egg rolls and coffee for fans who arrive early.

At Sha Tin, Ka Ying Rising is insulated from much of what he will face on a rowdy Australian racecourse. It’s a short stroll from his stables to the spacious parade ring and then straight onto the track. Randwick is another world entirely.

The tie-up stalls at Randwick put horses on display for the crowd, giving fans a close-up view before they head out. The Theatre of the Horse parade ring, inspired by Sha Tin, Tokyo and other Asian tracks but on a far smaller scale, will be bursting at the seams on Everest day. With 50,000 fans on course and the slot-holder system attracting large ownership groups, the parade ring will be packed.

Hayes is no stranger to travelling horses. In 1990, just weeks after turning 28, he became the youngest trainer to win the Japan Cup when Better Loosen Up stormed home in Tokyo. To claim an Everest 35 years later would rank alongside that triumph.

For Ka Ying Rising, who has so far only dominated at home, the environment is likely to be unlike anything he has ever experienced. That point won’t be lost on Australia’s bookmaker-fuelled pundits, who will be quick to question whether Hong Kong’s champion is simply a “flat-track bully.”

Recent Hong Kong champions such as Romantic Warrior have thrived on the road: he won eight from 11, seven at Group 1 level, across five countries in 534 days. But other Hong Kong stars have faltered. Ambitious Dragon was a beaten favourite in Dubai in 2012. Able Friend, usually a calm giant, lost his cool and a lot of sweat before his Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot three years later and never ran a shot.

It’s those kinds of scenarios Hayes and his team want to prevent, and Tuesday’s reconnaissance mission is crucial to doing so.

Everest day has its own distinct flavour, too. The Randwick crowd is rowdy, festive and “well lubricated,” as much music festival as it is race meeting. Just before the A$20 million (HK$102.81 million) race, the grandstands will erupt into a full-throated singalong of Sweet Caroline. By that point, Ka Ying Rising will be behind the barriers, far from the chaos, the singing drifting across the spring air as a background hum.

For Hayes, jockey Zac Purton and the team, the mission is to ensure Ka Ying Rising reaches the race composed and ready to unleash his explosive best. The world’s top sprinter has the talent to win, Tuesday’s hit-out is about making sure he is ready to do it on raceday.