David Hayes has confirmed boom sprinter Ka Ying Rising will bypass next month’s Classic Mile, with the stable star targeting a pair of Group Ones in the first two months of the year.

While Hayes was weighing up a tilt at the first leg of the four-year-old series for Ka Ying Rising after he bids for a second Group One success in the Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) on January 19, the trainer says he has scrapped the plan to take on his own age group.

“We’re thinking probably not the four-year-old mile,” Hayes said. “We’ve had a good look at the programme and there’s the Group One [Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup] over 1,400m with better spacing between races.

“I think it will be a small field compared to a full field in the Classic Mile, so we’ll just keep him sprinting.”

While only 12 days separates the Centenary Sprint Cup and the Classic Mile, Ka Ying Rising will have over a month to recover from January’s Group One contest for the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, which takes place on February 23.

The son of Shamexpress claimed his eighth victory on the spin and first at the top level with a comfortable win as the $1.1 favourite in the Hong Kong Sprint on December 8.

He will trial at Conghua on January 6 in preparation for the Centenary Sprint Cup.

“He hasn’t left an oat since the race – we were a bit concerned that it was a very hard run, but he didn’t think so,” Hayes said. “He’s trialling on January 6 over 1,000m at Conghua and we’re really happy with him.”

Hayes takes a team of 10 runners to Sha Tin’s New Year’s Day programme, including Chateauneuf in the second section of the Class Three Cha Kwo Ling Handicap (1,200m).

The relatively lightly-raced four-year-old heads to Sha Tin for the first time this season on the back of a luckless run under James McDonald during the International Jockeys’ Championship on December 4.

“He didn’t get a crack at them at the Valley and he was desperately unlucky,” Hayes said. “But I think there’s a bit up the sleeve and I think he might get out in distance as well. We’ve kept him sprinting thus far but it wouldn’t be a surprise if we step him out in distance pretty soon.”

With two wins under his belt from nine starts in the city, Chateauneuf jumps from gate five under Karis Teetan, who bolted up aboard the son of Fastnet Rock at the city circuit in October.