KA YING RSING ALL SET FOR EVEREST TITLE DEFENCE

By Hong Kong Jockey Club (Leo Schlink) | Thursday, October 15, 2026

Zac Purton is confident Ka Ying Rising has the speed and versatility to overcome barrier 11 in the AU$20 million (approx. HK$109.5 million) G1 The Everest (1200m) at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia on Saturday (17 October).

Chasing his second consecutive victory in the world’s richest turf race after steering Ka Ying Rising to a facile success in last season’s running, Purton is less concerned by gate 11 than the prospect of a slow to heavy track.

The nine-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey agrees with the speed map consensus that has Bjorn Baker’s speedy three-year-old filly Blue Door leading from barrier nine, a scenario which would potentially allow Ka Ying Rising to angle towards the rail from the start and settle in a prominent situation.

“I don’t think the barrier is too bad. The leader of the race (Blue Door) is drawn just inside us, so hopefully we can just slide across with her and the way the weather is, the inside of the track might not be the place to be. It might end up helping us,” Purton said.

Ka Ying Rising will attempt to win a 22nd consecutive race, a record for a Hong Kong horse, and Purton will not finalise tactics with trainer David Hayes until he inspects the Randwick track on Saturday.

“We’ll just work it out on the day. We’ll see how the track is first, and hopefully they’ve had the worst of it (wet weather) and the track is going to dry out. On a dry track, we know what he can do; on a wet track, we don’t (know), so I would prefer a dry track if we can get that.

“The barrier is okay – the track is more the important part.”

After being downgraded from a Good 4 to a Heavy 8 following 66mm of rain on Tuesday (13 October), the Randwick track had improved to Soft 7 today (Thursday, 15 October) with the chance of further upgrades as fine weather is forecast over the next three days.