A rainy week leading into a major race day is usually a mood dampener, but for the connections of Ka Ying Rising’s Everest rivals, it has been a beacon of hope.
While the world’s best horse remains a solid $1.50 favourite for today’s $20 million sprint, queries over his prowess on a wet track have softened his aura of invincibility – just a little.
Enough to give those like jockey Tommy Berry, whose mount Ninja has two wins and a placing from three starts on rain-affected ground, reason to believe it isn’t just a race for second to the Hong Kong star.
“The beauty of the rain being around is it gives everyone a chance to dare to dream a little bit,” Berry said.
“If the track was firm, it would probably be a non-event with what he’s done in the past, but he didn’t trial his best on soft going, and he didn’t look overly comfortably.” Berry should know.
He partnered Ninja in that 1000m Randwick trial, the four-year-old ranging up to Ka Ying Rising and edging past him to take out the heat on a soft 7-rated track.
While barrier trials and race day pressure are vastly different, Berry felt Ka Ying Rising looked vulnerable in the conditions, which are largely unfamiliar to the gelding given 23 of his 24 starts have been on firm tracks. “I noticed he wasn’t overly comfortable in it,” Berry said.
“He just wasn’t able to open the field up in that trial, which is what ‘Ka Ying’s’ best efforts are all about.
“I’m under no illusion. Wet track, dry track, he’s going to be extremely hard to beat. It just allows us to dare to dream a bit more that we’ve got a shot at finishing right up there with him.”
Ninja was the first horse selected for the Everest and will represent the slot held by John Camilleri’s Fairway Thoroughbreds, which owns a stake in the gelding.
Berry says it’s imperative his mount jumps well from barrier three, and he’s buoyed by the fact Ninja has won over 1400m at Group level, given today’s renewal of the Everest (1200m) promises to be genuinely run thanks to speedy filly Blue Door and Ka Ying Rising.
“With Blue Door and Ka Ying, the way they like to run their races, if it’s a soft track it’s going to make it a test,” Berry said.
“If you go through every one of my bloke’s replays, he’s never had a horse come from behind him and go past him. He’s very competitive. He’s a line chaser, and if anything comes for him, he lifts.”
Ninja will be Berry’s seventh ride in an Everest, his best results to date a second aboard Masked Crusader in 2021 and a third with Osborne Bulls in 2018.
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