The Melbourne Cup Carnival could be denied the chance to see Ka Ying Rising step out in the Champions Sprint on the final day with existing scanning protocols seen a major sticking point by David Hayes.
The now Hong Kong-based 1994 Melbourne Cup winning trainer says that he “would dearly love to take him to Flemington” after competing in the Group 1 The Everest (1200m) but the prospect of having his star sprinter needing to go through a second CT scan after running at Randwick and having completed the required quarantine period in Sydney is far from pleasing.
“It is madness,” Hayes said in the lead-up to the four-year-old’s start in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday.
“The Everest and Flemington are both options if he is an Everest winner and pulled up well.
“I haven’t got my head around the all the protocols but we are happy to do the first scan before he leaves (Hong Kong) – tick, and you would think that would be enough.
“If you take a horse out of his quarantine for an unneeded scan and he is a last start winner, and the horses that he will be racing won’t be (required to do it), it needs to be looked at.
“You don’t have to scan a horse to see that it is sound.”
Racing Victoria has confirmed that Ka Ying Rising would be subjected to another round of scans before running at Flemington even if he is successful in The Everest.
A loophole that previously saw horses who had passed through the quarantine process in Sydney and competed without injury, could then go to Melbourne and run without being scanned was closed in 2024.
Hayes believes that Ka Ying Rising is in “four or five lengths better form” compared to his victory in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December.
He identified Japanese runner Satono Reve as his gallopers main rival together with the Mark Newnham-trained Helios Express.
All three horses filled the trifecta placings in the Sprint nearly five months ago with less than a length margin separating them.
“The whole team feels that he is a better horse now,” Hayes added.
“It must be remembered that he is only four-years-old and I think he is going into his golden year next year.”
