Ka Ying Rising Faces Heavy Randwick Track in Everest Defence

Ka Ying Rising will defend his Everest crown on a rain-soaked Royal Randwick on Saturday, with the track rated Heavy 8 after another wet day in Sydney. Trainer David Hayes says the world’s best sprinter will run regardless, but admits a heavy surface is an unknown.

The official Racing NSW track report for Saturday’s Australian Turf Club meeting lists the course proper as Heavy 8, with the rail out 3m for the entire circuit.

The report, last updated at 2:51pm on Thursday, recorded 19.6mm of rain since 7:30am that day and 97mm over the previous seven days.

The $20 million TAB Everest (1200m) is Race 7 at 4:15pm, and Ka Ying Rising jumps from barrier 11 in the 12-horse field as he chases back-to-back wins in the world’s richest turf race. The Hong Kong champion is on a 21-race winning streak.

Hayes: “He’s running”

Hayes made it clear the wet track will not stop his star sprinter from taking his place in the gates.

“We haven’t come all this way not to run,” Hayes told Racing And Sports. “His preparation has been perfect and if we had a firm ‘deck’ I reckon he would have broken the track record.

“If the track is dead to soft, I think he will be ok. I just don’t know how he will go if we get to a heavy track.

“He did win a trial on a heavy track but race pressure is obviously a lot different. But regardless of the track conditions, he’s running, don’t worry about that!”

Untested on a rain-affected track

Racing And Sports reported that Ka Ying Rising has never raced on a track this wet in his 24-start career. His only run away from a good track came at his eighth start at Sha Tin more than two years ago, on a surface rated soft, when he carried 61kg and still ran the 1200m in 1m 08.03s to win easily.

The rain has also moved the market. TAB Fixed Odds had Ka Ying Rising as short as $1.30 on Monday, but he had eased to $1.50 favourite, with Tempted next at $5, Racing And Sports reported.

Randwick hoping for sunshine

Randwick has received about 100mm of rain this week, far more than any forecast predicted, Betsy reported on Thursday.

“We were expecting rain this week and planned for it, but we have got twice as much as expected, the forecasts haven’t been close,” Randwick racecourse manager Michael Wood said.

“The track is handling it as good as it can, but when you get 100mm it is still going to be very soft come Saturday.

“They are saying the sun will come out tomorrow and we will get wind, which will help the track and if that happens, we will be able to get out and mow it.”

Racing And Sports reported the forecast was for only 1mm of rain on Friday and again on Saturday, giving connections hope the course proper improves before the jump.

“There’s nothing we can do about the weather except hope we don’t get too much more rain because the horse is going really well, we are very happy with him,” Hayes said.

Scratchings for Saturday’s meeting close at 7:30am. Overpass, Charm Stone, Skybird and Marhoona are the four Everest emergencies, and they only gain a start if a horse in the main field is scratched.

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