Tempted just holds on from a hard-ridden Ka Ying Rising (HKJC Photos)
Chad Schofield, son of the Durban-born jockey Glyn Schofield, finished third in this year’s Hollywoodbets Durban July on the Gareth van Zyl-trained King Pelles and he had the biggest win of his career on Saturday when winning the world’s richest turf race, the AUS$20 million The Everest over 1200m at Randwick on the Ciaron Maher-trained Tempted, a four-year-old filly by Street Boss.
Tempted pulled off what some have called one of the biggest upsets in Australian racing history, holding off a huge late charge from Ka Ring Rising.
Although she was the second favourite, the Hong Kong-based Ka Ying Rising was considered virtually unbeatable as the defending champion and as one who had built up a sequence of 21 wins in succession, including lowering Sha Tin course records on numerous occasions.
Ridden by Chad Schofield on his Everest debut, Tempted led by two lengths with about 200m of the Randwick track to go, before Ka Ying Rising and Headwall mounted a huge charge down the outside, with Joliestar on the inside.
Tempted tired, but just managed to hold on to win by about a head over Ka Ying Rising and Joliestar.
“The impossible may have happened! We’ll talk about this race forever and a day,” said legendary sports presenter Bruce McAvaney.
Trainer Ciaron Maher was fighting back tears.
“Amazing … I thought she’d run a PB today. Thrilled,” said Maher.
“We knew we had to take position. Chad knew what he had underneath him. She had to be phenomenal, and she was.”
Schofield said he knew he had to push her from the start of the race, rather than wait to kick at the end like he might normally have done.
“I normally just ride her to relax and trust her to be far too good late,” he said.
“But it was a different race today. We had obviously the world’s best sprinter, world’s best horse in it.”
“I had eyes for him. I knew he wasn’t up there and I sort of held my spot and kept him deep … I had a perfect trip.”
Ka Ying Rising started as the best-backed favourite in Everest history, with 70 per cent of money invested.
He started at $1.35 favourite, with Tempted the next best at $7.
Ka Ying Rising trainer David Hayes – who watched the race from Caulfield – blamed the barrier draw.
“If we have to take a positive out of it, he was in front just past the post,” Hayes said on Seven.
“He was brave. I love the way he finished, but I hate the result.
“The ground was perfect. It was the barrier. We thought it could be a bonus for us, but it wasn’t.”
It was a brilliant ride by Chad.
Tactically he put the horse in the race by taking her forward as opposed to her usual sit and sprint style.
