David Hayes is flying – he has the best sprinter in the world, Ka Ying Rising, and his surprising seven-year-old Tomodachi Kokoroe might just be next best in Hong Kong.
“I tell you what, Rubylot on back-up vocals isn’t bad too,” the ever-positive Hayes told The Standard.
On Sunday Rubylot will need to live up to Hayes’s high expectations in the Group 3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse, another step towards a Group 1 start at the Hong Kong International Races.
“I think the 2,000m or the mile and a half [in December] will be for him after the Ladies’ Purse,” Hayes said.
First, an 1,800m clash against a strong field will tell the trainer what he has to work with as he plots a path to December 14.
This year’s Classic Cup winner ran on for fifth first-up in the G3 Celebration Cup, but after being balloted out of the G3 Sha Tin Trophy, Hayes was forced to run his horse with top weight in the Class 2 Panasonic Cup, where he was a somewhat disappointing ninth.
Hayes has gone to blinkers in a move designed to elicit some spark with a horse that needs to find ratings points if he is to gain a spot in the Group 1 Hong Kong Cup on International Day.
“He has the blinkers on for the first time on Sunday. It was an OK run last time out and he finished all right, but I thought he had a bit more to give and the blinkers might help him,” Hayes said. “If you put them on at the right time, they’re a wonderful tool.”
Rubylot faces two former Derby winners in the race, including the horse that beat him in the 2025 Classic, Cap Ferrat, and the 2023 winner Massive Sovereign.
