Ka Ying Rising passes barrier trial ahead of The Everest defence

David Hayes was happy to give Ka Ying Rising a “pass mark” after his “ambling” barrier trial at Randwick on Tuesday morning ahead of his defence of his Group One The Everest (1,200m) crown on October 17.

The world’s highest-rated galloper drew a legion of supporters to the Sydney track for the 1,000m hit out and he was given an easy time of things to finish second behind Ninja in a time of 59.46 seconds.

Zac Purton always had a double fistful on the David Hayes-trained star sprinter and never asked him for an effort, with Ninja edging past him in the final 100m on a track that was close to the heavy range.

It was something that Hayes was keen to test him on in the lead-up and the top trainer believes he trialled better than he did last year, though he admitted it was not an “exciting” lead-up like many had perhaps expected.

“He trialled better than last year, but I have seen him trial better. I think the way the track was with the longer grass and soft [ground] wasn’t in his favour,” Hayes said. “He didn’t change legs today which is always a bit of an indicator that he’s going pretty easy.

“When Zac puts him under a bit of pressure, he changes legs and he finds a lot. It’s a pass mark, but not exciting.

“Ninja trialled very well, didn’t he? If he didn’t trial well then we trialled terrible. He was good – I thought they’d be very happy with that.

“Today’s trial was probably run at four seconds slower than race tempo, so it’s very different. Zac was ambling into the straight and won’t be doing that in the race.”

Hayes’ comments were echoed by Purton, who thinks the nine-time Group One winner will come on plenty for his first proper test since winning the Group Three HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1,200m) on return, where he broke his own track record by 0.99 seconds despite being eased down late on.

“I think it was a better trial this year than what it was last year, but he certainly pulled up having a really big blow. He blew more in that trial than he did in his first-up win this season. I think that tells us he’ll come on,” Purton said.

“I’d prefer him to be on top of the ground, I think he really likes to when it’s a hard, fast deck. He just seems to labour that little bit in the softer ground, so hopefully the sun comes out and stays out.

“He was in here walking for quite some time after being on track for a little bit – that just started to catch up with him when he got to the gates, but it’s good to get that out of his system, that nervous energy. As we saw last year, he came back to the races as a much more relaxed horse.”

Attention will now turn to The Everest on October 17, where Ka Ying Rising is a heavy $1.3 favourite in overseas markets, and he will bid for a 22nd consecutive victory.