BROWNIE'S BLOG: SOCIAL MEDIA STORM FANTASY FIZZLES OUT. KA YING RISING IS JUST FINE.

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Multiple Group 1 winning jockey Damian Browne might be retired from race riding, but his passion for racing still remains and he now gives back to the industry, offering invaluable mentorship to young apprentices wise enough to take on board his advice. Beyond that, Browne is as insightful as ever when offering his opinion on racing matters, with his knowledge gained from so many years in the saddle leaving him ideally placed to give an informed commentary on many aspects of the game. This is Brownie’s Blog, a blog which is exclusive to HRO.

The wave of misinformation that surrounded The Everest favourite Ka Ying Rising’s well-being over the weekend was quite amazing.

It just showed again that in this day and age of social media it only takes one story and then for everybody to jump on board for it to spread like wildfire.

I suppose a few people might have got a little better odds for Ka Ying Rising for a bit before betting was temporarily suspended and other runners also attracted a brief run of support with some people getting into those at longer odds in case Ka Ying Ring was having issues … but, happily, both David Hayes and Ka Ying Rising himself, with his second gallop on Monday, were able to refute all of the rumours and put that matter well and truly to bed.

Which is great … because it is wonderful having the Hong Kong champion here, not only because Ka Yng Rising’s presence alone has created so much free publicity for The Everest, but because of the sense of anticipation everybody now has as they look forward to seeing an undoubted champion in action.

Some people have been trying to talk themselves into the belief that he can be beaten.

I firmly believe that Ka Ying Rising is the horse to beat, but I do concede that the weather might play a part. If it’s a bit wet, especially at Randwick where it is quite a testing track getting up that hill, which he has probably not done anything too much like that before, that will be an interesting point … but, I’m with Ka Ying Rising.

As far as his biggest dangers are concerned, I think if you take away the favourite, it is a pretty open race.

The one I like of the rest is Briasa. He was super impressive the other day.

There will be a lot of stories and subplots still in the next few days leading into the race … and, of course, after the race … but, like all good racing lovers, I like to see the best horse turn up and do what he does.
______________________________________________________________________

The smaller the field, the bigger the upset … how often have we heard that!

In the Might And Power last week only four runners faced the starter in spite of the fact that it was a $1 million race with $600 000 going to the winner.

Treasurethe Moment was the $1,60 favourite. Buckaroo was the second favourite at $2.70.

Neither runner won as Blake Shinn, the rider of the winner Globe, basically pulled James MacDonald and Damian Lane’s pants down on the two favourites with a super ride that carried the day.

Having said that, just as it was with Craig Williams and Mr Brightside in the Makybe Diva, I prefer to give credit to the winning ride rather than bag the rides on those horses who were beaten.

If you look at the sectionals mid-race, it was always going to be mathematically very hard for horses to run Globe down. He was able to quicken under his own steam and you could see 400m or 500m out, that Blake had rated him beautifully and was able to quicken and get the two main fancies off the bit.

Again, as I mentioned in a previous blog when talking about the Mr Brightside win in the Makybe Diva, it comes back to whether you have got the horse under you to do anything about the situation.

Buckaroo has never taken off early, so he raced to his pattern. Obviously he is going on to bigger races, so they were never going to be taking off at the 1200m, 1400m … whatever … while Treasurethe Moment generally likes to be ridden with a sit and having the last crack and Blake was able to take that out of them, so its hats off to Blake more than anything else.
______________________________________________________________________

How good was it to see Giga Kick back in the winners’ enclosure!

He looked like a superstar early on then obviously he had his problems and it great to see him back winning last Saturday for the first time since the 2023 Doomben 10 000.

All credit to his trainer Clayton Douglas.

So, we move on … and we are right in the thick of it now.

Looking forward to plenty more great racing to come.

More articles