When US Navy Flag ran ninth in the 2018 Everest, few imagined his performance would prove the high watermark for international participation in Australia’s richest race.

But it did, at least until now.

Coolmore had another go with an Aidan O’Brien-trained runner the following year, Ten Sovereigns finishing last of the 12.

Cliff Brown brought (The) Inferno from Singapore for the 2021 Everest, while ex-Hong Kong horse Joyful Fortune competed the following year under Mark Newnham. Both ran 10th.

The situation is expected to change on Saturday when Ka Ying Rising tackles the Everest on the back of a 13-race winning streak that has taken in four Group 1s and seen him break Sha Tin’s 1200-metre track record twice.

The inglorious record of foreign sprinters in the race isn’t putting the punters off. Ka Ying Rising is likely to start as the shortest favourite in Everest history, pipping Nature Strip (fourth at $1.90 in 2022).

When it comes to applicable formlines, there isn’t much to report about Ka Ying Rising.

Recommendation, a Group 3-level Aussie sprinter, finished 12½ lengths behind him in last December’s Hong Kong Sprint.

Japanese sprinter Satono Reve, placed behind him in the Hong Kong Sprint and Chairman’s Sprint Prize, ran a half-length second to Lazzat in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot this year. Tenth in that race, nine lengths from Satono Reve, was Australia’s own Storm Boy, a 1.86-length eighth in last year’s Everest.

And Helios Express, placed behind Ka Ying Rising six times in the past year, had one Aussie start in November 2022, winning a Benalla maiden as Tex Mex by 2¾ lengths.

The foreigners have had more luck in Saturday’s other big race, with six northern-hemisphere horses and a Kiwi winning Caulfield Cups from 1998 to 2019.