David Hayes has dismissed rumours that Ka Ying Rising was in doubt for this Saturday’s The Everest at Randwick, insisting the Hong Kong star is fit and ready to go.

Social media chatter on Sunday suggested the gelding was lame and off his feed, but Hayes was quick to quash the speculation.

“I got a call yesterday at lunchtime from JD, my son, and (SEN host) Gareth Hall had rung him and said his Twitter account had been hacked and sent out some false information and basically had him scratched, lame behind and not eating,” Hayes said.

“That’s not the horse I’ve been training anyway. The phone went into melt down for probably six hours, but to use a Donald Trump-ism, it was fake news.”

Ka Ying Rising impressed in a solo gallop at Canterbury on Monday, clocking 12 seconds for his final furlong. Hayes said the horse had improved since his Randwick trial and was “ready to rumble”.

Meanwhile, Mazu has secured Yulong’s slot, replacing the injured Private Harry, joining Angel Capital and Magic Time in Saturday’s $20 million feature.