Who Is Tempted? The Mare Who Beat Ka Ying Rising in The Everest

Who is Tempted, the racehorse who beat Ka Ying Rising?

Tempted is a 4-year-old thoroughbred mare, owned by Godolphin and trained by Ciaron Maher. On Saturday, October 17, 2026, she won the A$20 million TAB Everest at Royal Randwick in Sydney, beating Hong Kong's Ka Ying Rising by a long head.

That result made the Tempted racehorse story global overnight. Ka Ying Rising, a 6-year-old gelding rated the best horse in the world, came in on a 21-race winning streak. His last defeat had been in January 2024.

Joliestar, trained by Chris Waller and ridden by James McDonald, ran a close third. Headwall was fourth.

The Everest 2026 result at a glance

• Race: The TAB Everest, Group 1, 1200 meters on turf, weight-for-age, 12 runners
• Winner: Tempted (barrier 1), ridden by Chad Schofield in his first Everest ride
• Second: Ka Ying Rising (barrier 11), ridden by Zac Purton for trainer David Hayes
• Third: Joliestar
• Margin: 0.23 lengths, which AAP called a long head
• Track: rated Soft after heavy rain earlier in the week. Idol Horse reports it was upgraded to Soft 5 during the meeting.
• Crowd: a record 52,110, according to Just Horse Racing

It was also revenge. In the 2025 Everest, Tempted, then a 3-year-old filly, finished second to Ka Ying Rising.

Tempted's profile: connections, form and her 2026 wins

Tempted races in the royal blue colors of Godolphin, the operation founded by Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai. Racing reports describe her as a daughter of the stallion Street Boss.

According to AAP, her record is now 10 wins from 15 starts. The win took her career earnings past A$14.5 million, and it was her second Group 1 win.

The road to the Everest

She hasn't lost since that 2025 Everest. That's six wins in a row:

• Eskimo Prince Stakes (Group 3, Randwick, early 2026): a strong return to racing against colts
• Surround Stakes (Group 1, 1400m, Randwick, Feb. 28, 2026): her first Group 1 win, by a head in a photo finish
• Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (Group 2, 1200m, Randwick, April 11, 2026): won by just over a length
• Concorde Stakes (Group 2, 1000m, Randwick, Sept. 5, 2026): beat Headwall, who had won the race the year before
• Premiere Stakes (Group 2, 1200m, Randwick, Oct. 3, 2026): won by three lengths on a Soft 6 track
• The Everest (Group 1, 1200m, Oct. 17, 2026)

Two patterns stood out before Saturday. Before the Everest she had won seven of her eight Randwick starts, and her only loss there was to Ka Ying Rising. Her team also said she handles any ground, which mattered after the rain.

The Everest was her third run of this preparation, after the Concorde and the Premiere. Maher's stable has used the same third-up path to the Everest before, including with Bella Nipotina, his 2024 winner.

How a mare beat the world's top-rated sprinter

Ka Ying Rising didn't run badly. He finished fast and nearly got there. Three things went Tempted's way.

1. The draw

Tempted started from barrier 1, right against the inside rail. Ka Ying Rising drew 11 of 12. Hayes blamed the draw: his horse was stuck wide with no cover, while the first and third horses saved ground along the rail.

2. A bold ride

Schofield usually lets Tempted settle and relies on her finishing burst. This time he rode her much closer to the lead, and she took over early in the straight.

Ka Ying Rising couldn't cross from his wide draw. Hayes described his horse as six-wide without cover.

3. Weight and maturity

In 2025 Tempted carried 51kg as a 3-year-old filly, against Ka Ying Rising's 58.5kg. This year, as a mature 4-year-old, the gap was about two kilos. That means she has become a better horse even though the weight scale helped her less.

Was it the Soft track? AFP noted that the wet ground worried Ka Ying Rising's camp, since he mostly races on firm turf at Sha Tin. Hayes, though, put the loss down to the barrier.

Why barriers and track ratings matter so much in sprints

This part stays useful long after the Everest headlines fade.

Barriers (starting gates)

In a 1200m sprint there's very little time to recover from a bad position. Horses drawn wide face a choice. They can burn energy pushing forward to find the rail, drop back and lose ground, or race wide around the turn and cover extra distance.

An inside draw lets a fast horse save ground and get a cover, which means tucking in behind another horse to avoid the wind. In a race won by a long head, those small savings decide the result.

Track ratings

Australian tracks are rated on a 1-10 scale:

• Firm (1-2): hard and fast
• Good (3-4): the ideal racing surface
• Soft (5-7): moist, with hoofprints sinking in
• Heavy (8-10): wet and testing

Softer ground makes horses work harder with every stride. Some horses love it and others lose their speed. Trainers watch the rating all week, and it can change between races as the track dries.

The weight Ka Ying Rising gave her: weight-for-age explained

The Everest is run under weight-for-age conditions. These aren't handicaps based on ability. Weights are set by age, sex and time of year.

Younger horses get weight off because they are still maturing, and fillies and mares get a sex allowance. That's why the weight gap between these two horses shrank so much in a year.

The 2026 figures follow reports that Ka Ying Rising gave her two kilos. In 2025 she was beaten by just over a length while getting 7.5kg. This year she won with far less help from the weights. That's a real sign of how much she has improved.

For more on race levels, see our guide to what a Grade 1 or Group 1 race is. Racing terms are also explained in our glossary.

What to watch next

• A rematch? Just Horse Racing reports that both trainers seem keen to meet again at next year's Everest. Hayes said only that they "maybe" come back, so treat it as talk until slots are announced.
• Tempted's next start: her connections haven't announced one.
• Ka Ying Rising: the loss is no disgrace. He finished strongly from a bad trip. Catch up on his career in our Ka Ying Rising profile.
• The race itself: our Everest 2026 explainer covers the slot system and how the field is chosen.

Watching a sprint like a pro: quick checklist

1. Check the barrier draw first. Inside gates help horses that are quick away.
2. Check the track rating on race morning, and again before the race.
3. Look at the weights under the race conditions, such as weight-for-age.
4. Watch the turn. Count how many horse-widths from the rail your horse is.
5. Watch the last 200m. A wide horse closing fast may have been the best horse that day.

New to racing? Start with our disciplines guide to see how flat racing fits into the wider horse world.