Ka Ying Rising Seeks Second Everest Summit

It is showtime for the best sprinter in the world. Ka Ying Rising (NZ) puts his credentials on the line when he defends his title in the Oct. 17 AU$20 million The Everest (G1) at Randwick Racecourse. The 6-year-old will bid to extend his winning sequence to 22 in the world's richest turf race, with his most recent win earning him a rating of 135, the highest achieved by a sprinter since the Longines World's Best Racehorse rankings began in 1977. However, despite his record-breaking achievements, trainer David Hayes has warned that the weather could leave his superstar vulnerable. Randwick was downgraded from good to heavy after 66 millimeters of rain Oct. 13, but the track had improved to soft by Oct. 15, with the forecast for fine weather over the next three days offering the prospect of further improvement. Hayes is confident Ka Ying Rising can cope with slow or dead ground, but admitted he would be concerned if the track was heavy or worse. Despite that, the market has shown little concern over the weather, with the gelding a firm 1-2 favorite. "I feel like I know every weatherman in Sydney," Hayes said. "If the track is heavy, it's a bit of an unknown. I'm very confident he can handle a slow or dead track and, of course, if we get a good track, he'd have a good chance of breaking the track record." Ka Ying Rising was also allocated stall 11 in Tuesday's draw, although jockey Zac Purton is more concerned about the rain-affected ground than the wide berth. "I don't think the draw is too bad. The probable leader, Blue Door, is just inside us, so hopefully we can slide across with her and the way the weather is, the inside of the track might not be the place to be," Purton said. "It might end up helping us. The draw is OK—the track is more the important part." Ka Ying Rising's principal threat could come from Tempted (AUS), a 4-1 chance, who finished second to him last year and has drawn stall 1 for her latest attempt. The Ciaron Maher-trained mare has won her five starts since last year's Everest and boasts an impressive record at Randwick over 6 furlongs, with five wins and a second from six attempts. She arrives after an emphatic 3-length victory in the Premiere Stakes (G2) on soft ground this month. Maher also saddles Jimmysstar (NZ), who finished third in last year's Everest and returned to winning ways in the Manikato Stakes (G1) at Caulfield Racecourse last time. "Ka Ying Rising is a freak of nature and he looks fantastic, but I'm rapt with Tempted. We've definitely got a chance," Maher said. "She just loves Randwick—her record speaks for itself. Ka Ying Rising is probably not quite at his best on rain-affected tracks and hopefully for our sake, but probably not for his sake, the rain keeps coming."