Auret family counting sleeps to The Everest
Dennis Ryan - Raceform • October 10th, 2025 11:00 AM • 5 min read
As the days count down to Saturday week and the ninth edition of The Everest, excitement is mounting from Hong Kong to Sydney and all the way to the sleepy central North Island settlement of Marton.
That’s where Ka Ying Rising, the horse who has dominated discussions around the world’s richest turf race, originated from. Under their Grandmoral Lodge banner, Fraser and Erin Auret bred the champion Hong Kong sprinter by Windsor Park stallion Shamexpress from their recently crowned Broodmare of the Year Missy Moo.
He was reared and educated on the former Marton racecourse that now houses the Auret stable and after looking the part in a two-year-old jumpout was sold to clients of David Hayes’ Hong Kong stable. From a slightly ugly duckling to strapping sprinter, the five-year-old gelding is the winner of his last 13 starts and stakes of HK$68 million (NZ$15m), ticking off Sha Tin track records without even blinking.
Now he has returned Down Under as the odds-on favourite for the A$20 million slot race, but that’s still not enough to entice the Aurets to Sydney to soak up the full experience at Randwick on Saturday week.
“No, it’s just too difficult juggling everything, what with the team we’ve got in work and their racing programmes, plus our three children to consider,” Fraser Auret told RaceForm earlier this week. “The way we see it, the kids have been part of the horse’s story from the time we drove home from Windsor Park when he was a foal at foot with his mother.
“So we’re happy to stay home and watch it together on TV. That’s what we’ve done until now, tuning in to see him racing in Hong Kong, everyone in their Ka Ying Rising socks ready to cheer him on.”
Auret didn’t let on whether he has informed his three juniors whether things will be different in December when Ka Ying Rising’s next big target, the Hong Kong International Sprint, looms.
“Erin and I have booked our tickets to Hong Kong. We’re already looking forward to the experience – it’s one of the great race meetings and I’ve always wanted to go – so we’re just hoping that things work out and he’ll be there.
“For now though we’re almost at the counting sleeps stage, The Everest is going to be something else and we’ll certainly be glued to the action.”
Auret has resisted any temptation to pick up the phone to Hayes, preferring to monitor the champion sprinter’s progress through Michael Morais, the agent who was Johnny on the spot when Ka Ying Rising showed his paces in that Levin jumpout.
“Michael keeps me up with things and from all accounts he’s travelled to Sydney and settled in well. I know there’s been some comment about him never having been outside Sha Tin since he arrived up there and Sydney being a lot different, but when he left here he travelled through the Hayes brothers’ stable on the way to Hong Kong and would have learnt a fair bit along the way.”
The build-up to The Everest was ramped up on Tuesday when Ka Ying Rising made his first public appearance in a specially arranged trial over 1000 metres on the Randwick course proper. In a field of seven that included big-race rivals Joliestar, Overpass and Angel Capital with a collective tally of 24 Group One wins, Ka Ying Rising was kept wide on the speed by regular rider Zac Purton as he cruised home for a close third to Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker and Overpass, the three-time winner of The Quokka in Perth.
Ka Ying Rising’s $1.70 quote on the TAB’s fixed odds market remained unchanged, as did the next in the market, Cambridge Stud-owned Joliestar, at $7. With James McDonald in the saddle, the triple Group One winner was never put under any pressure and hit the line in fifth place, just under seven lengths from her rival.
The Ka Ying Rising camp were noticeably low-key immediately afterwards, with Hayes and Purton both commenting that the Good4 surface with significant moisture in it was different to the firmer Sha Tin surface, and that he would take a lot of benefit from his most serious piece of work since arriving in Sydney.
The Hong Kong star’s presence brings a whole new layer to the world’s most famous slot race, having been contested exclusively by Australian-trained horses since its inaugural running in 2017. The Peter V’landys-inspired initiative has smashed modern-day records for raceday attendance, particularly amongst its targeted younger audience, as well as creating worldwide attention.
There’s obvious irony that less than a fortnight after the Henry Dwyer-trained Asfoora notched her third European Group One sprint victory – and a first ever for an Australian-trained horse in France – in last Sunday’s Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, there will be a global focus on another sprint at the opposite end of the world.
That focus has doubled down with next Saturday’s Randwick card being one of a growing number of race meetings run as a World Pool event. The Hong Kong Jockey Club-inspired platform brings a whole new dynamic to betting, particularly in the headline event, when Ka Ying Rising’s familiarity with big-spending Hong Kong punters is expected to ensure he starts at tight odds.
What that means for the odds ultimately on offer for his 11 rivals remains to be seen, while on this side of the Tasman there’s keen anticipation that 2025 might be the year that a Kiwi-bred takes the honours.
The closest that a New Zealand-bred horse has come to victory in The Everest was the close second two years ago by Waikato Stud’s I Wish I Win. This year New Zealand has more than a single ticket in the lottery, with Ka Ying Rising set to be joined by Kiwi part-owned contenders Jimmysstar (Per Incanto) and War Machine (Harry Angel) as well as Jedibeel, a son of I Wish I Win’s sire Savabeel.
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