Champion sprinter Ka Ying Rising’s draw in Hong Kong may not be an ace up his sleeve

Ka Ying Rising, who races at Sha Tin in Hong Kong tomorrow, has drawn barrier one for the first time in his career. Photo / Alex Evers / HKJC

In Hong Kong – Trainer David Hayes isn’t overthinking about the only barrier draw that could have given Kiwi-bred superstar Ka Ying Rising’s rivals any hope heading into the Longines Hong Kong Sprint on Sunday.

The world’s best sprinter has drawn barrier one for the first time in his career in the sprint on the International Race Day that boasts four Group 1s at Sha Tin tomorrow.

While barrier one sounds okay and Ka Ying Rising will still start at near unbackable odds, his rivals at least now have the faint hope he could get crossed at the start and get trapped away on the fence.

Considering the sheer speed in the race, Ka Ying Rising’s size and strength, and the fact he has Hong Kong’s champion jockey Zac Purton make such a scenario seem unlikely, but his first ace draw at least makes it possible.

But Hayes, who has been thrilled with Ka Ying Rising’s work in the past two weeks, isn’t buying into the potential for bad luck.

“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 expects Ka Ying Rising 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 fast tempo to lead his gelding.

“When horses get tired in fast run races, they wander and runs come 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 were a slow race, I would expect Zac to lead.

“I think he is in what you would call his golden era. I think last year he was a bit immature.

“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 for the 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.”

Michael Guerin wrote his first nationally published racing articles while still in school and started writing about horse racing and the gambling industry for the Herald as a 20-year-old in 1990. He became the Herald’s Racing Editor in 1995 and covers the world’s biggest horse racing carnivals.