English/Ire
Ka Ying Rising set for stall one debut in Hong Kong Sprint
Ka Ying Rising will have to overcome stall one for the first time in his career if he is to claim a sixteenth straight success in the Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on Sunday.
A winner of the contest twelve months ago, Ka Ying Rising has been somewhat imperious in the sprinting division ever since and while trainer David Hayes was quick to admit that the inside gate was far from ideal for his champion sprinter, he firmly believes jockey Zac Purton to be able to navigate the task in hand.
Hayes said: "I think Zac will be happy. It's more important what Zac thinks this time from the barrier because he has to do the job. I will leave it to him.
"The horse jumps fast and he puts him in a spot, and then hopefully he gets a trouble-free run. You can get blocked in from barrier one, but I don't think he will. If he jumps fast, he can have a nice easy run to the home turn."
On the prospect of being slowly away from stall one, Hayes admitted that would make things problematic, although he remains confident that Ka Ying Rising has the pace to get out the gates sharply.
"That would be the only concern but lately he is so fast out of the gates in his first 100 meters he gets himself in a very comfortable position," explained the trainer.
Main market rival Satono Reve will break from gate four under recently-crowned International Jockey's Championship winner Ryan Moore, while the Hugh Bowman-ridden Helios Express has also been workable draw in stall six.
The five-year-old son of Shamexpress, who followed up his international success in the TAB Everest at Randwick with a smooth win in Grade 2 company here last month, has already destroyed the six-furlong Sha Tin course record on two separate occasions.
However, Purton isn't exactly expecting fireworks on the clock come Sunday afternoon, with the rider firmly concentrating on getting the job done in a professional manner.
He said: "I'm not thinking it is going to be a slowly-run race, but do I think they are going to break the track records as well? No, I don't,"
"The winter grass has come through, it's a bit softer and the track is a bit thicker, and no doubt they'll put a little bit more water on the track as well. They usually do for this meeting, so I don't think a track record is going to be seen, but as long we win the race and tick it off and move on to the next one …"
On what makes the world's best sprinter so unique, Purton pointed towards his sharpness from the gates and high cruising speed as two assets that help separate him from his challengers.
"He loves high-pressure races," Purton said. "He doesn't like it when they go slow. And when they do go slow, it allows a lot of those other horses to be in touch with and sprint with him. Whereas, when he is out there running along, it breaks their hearts.
"He is a unique horse in the way he can absorb pressure in such an easy way. A lot of other horses are just struggling to keep up with just that pace in the mid-stages and they can't find anything off that and are gassed trying to keep up.
"I'm looking forward to Sunday."
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