Ka Ying Rising makes Hong Kong racing history

HONG KONG – David Hayes believes Ka Ying Rising’s extraordinary dominance can continue indefinitely, after the world’s premier sprinter demolished quality opposition to post a Hong Kong record 18th successive victory in course-record time in the HK$13 million (S$2.1 million) Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin on Feb 22.

Stretching his unbeaten sequence beyond Silent Witness’ longstanding mark of 17 wins, slotted from 2002 to 2005, Ka Ying Rising ($5.30) imperiously steamrolled his opposition in 1min 19.36sec to smash the previous course record of 1:19.92, jointly held by Encouraging and Packing Hermod.

Jockey Zac Purton confirmed Hayes had told him pre-race “to break the track record”, after he had ridden Ka Ying Rising hands-and-heels to the finish, 3½ lengths clear of Helios Express (Hugh Bowman) with Lucky Sweynesse (Keith Leung) another 1¼ lengths astern.

Improving his overall record to 19 wins from 21 starts – after two narrow seconds as a three-year-old – the son of Shamexpress jumped quickly from barrier 3 to sit second behind Copartner Prance (James Orman) and clocked 21.93sec from the 1,200m to the 800m before putting his rivals to the sword over the final 800m in a blistering 43.96sec, with respective 200m splits of 11.26, 11.07, 10.52 and 11.11 to create history.

Unbeaten since February 2024, Ka Ying Rising’s winning streak includes eight Group 1s – two Longines Hong Kong Sprint victories (2024 and 2025), two Centenary Sprint Cup titles (2025 and 2026), The Everest (2025), the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (2025) and now a pair of Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup trophies (2025 and 2026).

Silent Witness reigned from December 2002 to April 2005, snaring seven top-level features – the Hong Kong Sprint in 2003 and 2004, two Centenary Sprint Cups (2004 and 2005), two Chairman’s Sprint Prize triumphs (2004 and 2005) and the 2005 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. 

The stunning nature of Ka Ying Rising’s latest victory prompted Hayes to declare that the five-year-old could sustain his current level of excellence for the next 18 months, fitness permitting.

“If we can place him conservatively, we hope to have him for another couple of seasons, that’s really exciting,” said Hayes. “He loves a month between runs, so we’ll probably go for the (Group 2) Sprint Cup (1,200m) next (on April 6) and then we don’t have to train him too hard and babysit him into the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m on April 26).

“Hopefully we can get another clean sweep of the season again with The Everest in the middle.

“He’s more composed than ever, he’s changing legs and you can’t ask for much more than he’s doing. He’s breaking track records and his last three runs, he’d have broken the track record if Zac had let him go.

“He jumped so well (today) and cruised through the bend beautifully – at the 300m, I could really enjoy it.

“I could tell he had the race in command. Zac went for him a bit more than he normally does and rode to instructions, which was good.

“I’ve trained a lot of horses that have gone 742 days without winning, so to continuously win for 742 days is mind-numbing. It’s two and a half years and the thing people don’t realise is that he was the (equal) youngest horse in the race today.

“They always think he’s the big boy bashing them up, but he’s actually the baby.

“It’s a huge relief. I didn’t think the team could have had him better for today and I was confident that if the track was riding fast, he could break the (track) record.

“I didn’t want Zac sitting up in the last 100m, I said to him ‘let him run through the post and we’ll see how strong he is at 1,400m’. He’s just a star. 

“I just thought for his worldwide ratings, I wanted Zac to let him go today and hopefully he can keep climbing up that incredible ladder that he’s going up.

“When you’ve got a horse as good as him, he’s the one everyone will be comparing the next big horse too.”

Purton notched his fifth victory in the race following wins on Ambitious Dragon (2013) and Beauty Generation (2018, 2019 and 2020) and believes Ka Ying Rising has reached his peak.

“I think he’s reached his level and it’s just a matter of managing him now and try to preserve that for as long as we can,” said the eight-time Hong Kong champion jockey. “He’s the horse of a lifetime. I just shake my head every time with the performances he puts up and the ease with which he does it.

“I’ve just got to pinch myself, I’m so lucky. He’s just different – he’s in a league of his own. They’re very good horses that he’s racing against, and he just does it like he’s having a barrier trial and let’s hope he can stay in this form for another 12 or 18 months.

“To be etched in history now forever is part of my legacy, part of David’s and a part of Ka Ying Rising and hopefully he can continue on doing what he’s doing. We’re all enjoying being associated with him and I think everyone is enjoying watching him being successful as well.

“The horse deserves all the credit. He’s the one with the ability and he continues to step out, race after race, and blow good quality horses away and it’s very unique to see that.”

Currently the second-highest rated horse in the world, Ka Ying Rising also holds the 1,200m turf course record (1:07.2).

Purton also triumphed aboard the Manfred Man-trained debutant Almighty Lightning ($15) in the Class 4 Daffodil Handicap (1,000m), Cool Blue ($22) for Chris So in the Class 5 Jasmine Handicap (1,800m), Aerovolanic ($14) for Pierre Ng in the Class 4 Peach Blossom Handicap (1,400m) and Cool Boy ($12) in the Class 3 Peony Handicap (1,200m) for Jamie Richards.

Stellar Express ($24) slotted his fifth course and distance success in the Class 2 Orchid Handicap (1,000m), clocking 55.36sec for John Size and Andrea Atzeni. Formerly known as Dariym, the Zoustar gelding won three races in France when trained by Francis-Henri Graffard.

Frankie Lor notched a training treble, prevailing with the talented Smart Golf ($8) in the Class 4 Heung Yee Kuk Centenary Cup Handicap (1,200m) under Harry Bentley, Embrace Aberdeen ($34) in the Class 4 Gladiolus Handicap (1,200m) under Matthew Poon before the impressive Salon S ($8) clinched the last race, the Class 3 Rose Handicap (1,400m) to give Poon a treble.

Poon also triumphed on David Hall’s Power Of Vitam, who landed a $236 shock win in the Class 3 Primula Handicap (1,600m) and earned a PP (Privately Purchased Horse) Bonus of HK$1.5 million, after All’s Well ($23) bolted in with the Class 4 Peach Blossom Handicap (1,400m) under Dylan Browne McMonagle for Dennis Yip.  HKJC