Barrier ‘blooper’ is Ka Ying Rising’s only concern in G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint

By Daryl Timms

David Hayes has downplayed any concerns over star sprinter Ka Ying Rising drawing barrier one for the first time in his career when he confronts 12 rivals in the HK$28 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin (1200m) on Sunday (14 December).

Aiming for his 16th consecutive win with Ka Ying Rising, Hayes said the only fear was that the world’s highest-rated sprinter could miss the start.

“I think the shortest way home is the rail,” Hayes said. “He is the fastest horse in the world, so unless he makes a proper blooper out of the gates, it has to be a huge advantage.

“My only reservation is if he did accidentally flop the start – but flopping the start from barrier 12 or 10 is just as bad anyway.’’

Hayes said he expected Ka Ying Rising, who worked over 400m in 29.5s today (Friday, 12 December) at Sha Tin, to jump well, and it will be the first time he has drawn on the rail.

With horses like Win Carnelian (barrier 11) and Beauty Waves (barrier nine) expected to take up the front-running role, Hayes said the pair would need to be going at a very fast tempo to lead his gelding.

“When horses get tired in fast run races, they wander, and runs comes for good horses for that reason,” he said. “If it is a slow-run race, they travel right into the straight and that would be a concern. But if it was a slow race, I would expect Zac to lead.”

Hayes said he would take a similar path to last season and stretch Ka Ying Rising out to 1400m in February’s HK$13 million G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin.

Hayes said he firmly believes they could run the champion at 1600m, but claimed there wasn’t much point when he was such a dominant sprinter.

“I think he is in what you would call his golden era. I think last year he was a bit immature,” he said. “And this year, he is a bigger, (more) powerful horse. We really felt going into his last race that he is at a level he has never been. Visually it looked that way and he nearly smashed the course record, easing down from the 200 (metres). It was a fairly easy watch.”

Despite Ka Ying Rising dominating the discussion, Hayes said they had to respect the best international sprint form offered by some of the other contenders.

“So, it’s not a walk in the park, but the (overseas) market has him favourite, and around 20/1 second (favourite),” he said.

“I hope the bloody market is right but I have a lot of respect for those big international races. They are not easy to compete in and those horses are coming out of those.”

Hayes’ other runner in the sprint, Tomodachi Kokoroe, has drawn barrier seven, and he expects him to finish in the placings if he gets a good run.

Purton, who also has no fears over Ka Ying Rising’s barrier, believes that his last start victory in the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on 23 November was probably the best of his career.

It was his first start since his trip to Australia, where he won the world’s richest turf race, the AU$20 million (approx. HK$101 million) G1 The Everest (1200m) after jumping from barrier seven.

Sunday’s (14 December) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12.25pm with the Class 4 Fairy King Prawn Handicap (1400m).