‘I did my block’ – Hayes forced to shutdown Ka Ying Rising meltdown

There were any number of things that frustrated David Hayes about the Ka Ying Rising rumours on Sunday, but the most important thing he had to do was ring Hong Kong Jockey Club boss Winfred Engelbrecht-Bresges.

“It was crazy. It was viral at the races at Sha Tin, so I had to tell EB everything was all right,” Hayes told Betsy.

“He had heard that the horse was out like everyone else. I just told him everything was fine with the horse and not to worry.”

“I needed him to know that because it is the Jockey Club’s slot.”

Hayes was confident in what he had seen of Ka Ying Rising since being Sydney, and before he stepped up for his work on Monday, Racing NSW stewards passed him fit to race in The Everest.

“I was more confident about that than about winning the race,” Hayes quipped.

The morning workout came after Ka Ying drifted on Betfair to $3 on Sunday as news of a leg injury took hold on social media.

There wasn’t a lot of liquidity in the market on Betfair with only a couple of hundred dollars being matched in each bet, but it was enough for the TAB and other bookies to suspend betting on Sunday morning before being assured by the stewards that the favourite was fit and well.

“When the fake news came out yesterday, Hong Kong went into a spin,” Hayes said.

“I really don’t know what the angle was.”

“He is an iconic horse in Hong Kong, and he will be even more iconic if (he) wins this race on Saturday.”

Hayes was fielding calls from mid-afternoon about his horse and didn’t miss a beat in telling everyone who called that the horse was ready to go.

But bemusement quickly moved to anger.

“I pity for the young, because [when] social media goes so out of control as that did, it’s not good,” Hayes said.

“To get all that yesterday when there was absolutely nothing wrong with the horse whatsoever.”

“I came back from trackwork [on Sunday] and telling my wife [Prue] I think the horse is as good as I can get him.”

“Then to read all that in the afternoon was just incredible.”

“I thought it was funny at first, but after three hours of it I did my block.”

Ka Ying Rising only ran his last 600 in 38 with about a 12-second last 200m at Canterbury on Monday, which is the work he does in Hong Kong leading into a big race, according to Hayes.

He sported a pair of earmuffs to keep him calm and Hayes is very content heading into the Everest.

“The trial I rated a 7 out of 10 from his past performances,” he said.

“It must be remembered he hadn’t seen Randwick before that day. He was stargazing, but if he went there today he would fly down there.”