While he admitted he would have preferred to reveal his own gate, Ka Ying Rising’s owner Leung Shek-kong was in his element all the same during Tuesday night’s Group One The Everest (1,200m) barrier draw aboard super yacht “The Jackson” on Sydney Harbour.

Big-race barrier draws in Hong Kong see owners select their own card before peeling away a sticker to show the horse’s gate, however the draw for The Everest was done by computer earlier on Tuesday before being projected into the Sydney sky in a spectacular drone show.

Leung called barrier seven “the gate I was hoping for” after Ka Ying Rising’s colours flashed up and the Hong Kong-based businessman is taking in all Sydney has to offer ahead of Saturday’s mega-rich sprint at Randwick.

“I’m loving Sydney, the weather is good and not too humid,” he said.

“I’m very excited for the race on Saturday but I’m not too worried about the result. Whether we win, run second or worse, it’s just a very big honour to be a part of the race on Saturday.”

Leung attended Tuesday night’s cruise with other members of the Ka Ying Syndicate and a handful of friends, with the touring party set to swell to around 50 by the weekend.

A prolific horse owner in Hong Kong, with most of his gallopers over the years featuring “Ka Ying” in the name, Leung is lapping up every minute of the ride the world’s best sprinter is taking him on.

“I just want to enjoy everything and I hope the horse enjoys the race as well,” he said.

Someone else who has been there almost every step of the way – riding the David Hayes-trained Ka Ying Rising in 14 of his 16 starts – is jockey Zac Purton, and he offered an insight into Leung’s sporting mindset.

“He was happy to back The Everest plan in. I think that’s one of the things that we appreciate the most – that he’s had the willingness to want to come along on the journey with us and have a go,” said Purton, who will jet into Sydney on Friday to ride Ka Ying Rising on Saturday.

“It’s really easy to stay at home and keep doing what he’s doing. It’s an extremely big task to make the bold call to head down and take on the best sprinters in the world. It’s great that he shares the enthusiasm that we do.

“He enjoys his racing and he enjoys involving his friends in his racing. He likes to have his friends around him and he likes to enjoy life.

“He loves his good food, his good wine and racing horses. He’s very relaxed about things the majority of the time but obviously he feels the pressure with this horse.”

While Purton is expected to jet straight back to Hong Kong on Saturday night in time for Sunday’s Sha Tin meeting, he expects those staying behind to enjoy themselves should The Everest go to plan for $1.75 favourite Ka Ying Rising.

“[Leung] does enjoy celebrating the big wins so [throwing a party] would be something he would enjoy doing for sure, but we’re focused on trying to win the race first,” said the jockey.