Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club
Zac Purton and David Hayes were left to scramble for adequate superlatives after Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) continued an imperious reign with a phenomenal display of speed and power to win the HK$5.35 million Gr.2 Sprint Cup (1200m), notching a fourth Sha Tin track record with a record-extending 19th successive victory on Monday.
Breaking the Sha Tin 1200m mark for the third time with a searing gallop of 1m 07.12s – despite running the first 300m of the race into the teeth of blustery southerly wind and being eased down late – Ka Ying Rising (128lb) conceded 5lb to six rivals before sweeping to a four-and-a-quarter length margin over Helios Express (123lb) and Raging Blizzard (123lb).
Continuing an amazing season, Ka Ying Rising followed his record-breaking gallop of 1m 19.36s in the Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) on 22 February with an equally extraordinary effort today, prompting Purton to describe the display as “right up there” with the finest of the five-year-old’s towering performances, as he lauded Ka Ying Rising’s devastating acceleration as his “best” yet.
Settling second behind Stellar Express (123lb), Ka Ying Rising clocked 21.47s between the 800m and 400m with successive splits of 10.75s and 10.72s before Purton asked the world’s highest-rated horse in 2026 to lengthen stride.
Responding with a scorching 10.45s burst to the 300m, Ka Ying Rising spreadeagled the field to lead by almost 10 lengths before Purton allowed the gelding to cruise to the line over the final 100m, improving his overall record to 20 wins from 22 starts.
“It (the win) is right up there, for sure,” Purton said. “The way the track is today with the strong headwind down the back straight and every horse that’s been uncovered around the circle – he was on the fence, but he had nothing outside him – has just fallen in a hole. That wind has really gassed them,” Purton said.
“So, he had to absorb that, and I suppose a few other horses had to as well, but things were there to try and unsettle him a little bit with the extra weight to carry, as well, coming back in distance but he’s just different.”
Asked if Ka Ying Rising, who first shattered Sacred Kingdom’s longstanding 1200m track record of 1m 07.50s with a gallop of 1m 07.43s and then bettered it again two starts later with a time of 1m 07.20s, could have gone even faster, Purton said: “I wasn’t out there to run time today.
“Of course, Stellar Express ran along and that set it up and I just got my horse into a lovely rhythm, and he let down so beautifully. It’s the best he’s accelerated at the top of the straight, so it was there for him to do it (run even faster), but I wasn’t looking for him to do it.”
Hayes believes Ka Ying Rising’s maturity is a key in his continuing development.
“Just behind the gates and everything he does, he's taking it in so well, and to saddle him up he's a quieter horse. He's just really maturing and it's been a golden year this year, but I think that he'll have another one next year,” Hayes said, addressing a defence of the world’s richest sprint The Everest (Gr.1, 1200m) at Royal Randwick in Sydney, Australia after his 2025 victory.
“I think he'll be a better horse when he goes down for The Everest,” Hayes said.
“We’ll just keep on doing what we're doing because it's working so well. It's not stressing our horse and we're hoping to have him for another couple of seasons, especially one more at the top, and he's nearly two and a half years undefeated.
“Zac’s words, he said, ‘I think he's getting better’. He just said ‘he loves taking a sit, if they go fast, he's a better horse. The faster they go, the better he is’, those were his words.”
Unbeaten since February, 2024, Ka Ying Rising will attempt to claim a second Hong Kong Speed Series sweep – and bonus of HK$5 million – with victory in the HK$24 million Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin on 26 April.
