‘Horse of a lifetime’ Ka Ying Rising romps into Hong Kong record book

Sunday’s Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) served as the fitting occasion for Ka Ying Rising to succeed Silent Witness as the king of the winning streak in Hong Kong. 

Currently the world’s best sprinter, Ka Ying Rising was the overwhelming odds-on favorite to make history in a race that appeared to be at his mercy. And he showed no mercy. 

Ka Ying Rising not only broke the legendary Silent Witness’s record of 17 consecutive wins, which had stood since 2005. He also put an exclamation point on his 18th straight victory by demolishing the 1400-meter course record at Sha Tin.

Indeed, trainer David Hayes had spoken of lowering the course record for some time. Ka Ying Rising already owns the 1200-meter mark, with a blistering 1:07.20 in the 2025 Centenary Sprint Cup (G1). When capturing last year’s Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over the extra panel, he clocked 1:20.33 – not far off the 1:19.92 record.

But Ka Ying Rising has matured into the finished article since then. If regular rider Zac Purton let the New Zealand-bred superstar really roll, rather than throttling down late, the 1400-meter mark figured to be within his grasp.

With his absolute superiority proven over and over again, the race time element furnished the only real bit of suspense on Sunday. Even that turned out to be a mere formality.

The stage was set when Copartner Prance dashed out to set a fast pace. Ka Ying Rising ambled in second, using the leader as target practice, and awaiting the cue turning for home.

“They’re at the Silent Witness statue now,” racecaller Mark McNamara deftly noted in upper stretch. As the field passed the bronze sculpture that is itself a silent witness to an all-time great, it was as if Ka Ying Rising paid his respects to his predecessor. 

Once Purton unleashed him, Ka Ying Rising showed his freakish burst of speed to romp into the record book twice over – past Silent Witness, and in an utter obliteration of the course mark in 1:19.36. 

Helios Express had the distinction of playing second fiddle again, this time by 3 1/2 lengths. The valiant veteran Lucky Sweynesse took third in the photo with Galaxy Patch, and Copartner Prance faded to sixth of 10. 

Effectively, though, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup was a one-horse race. The Ka Ying Syndicate’s supreme flagbearer sports a career record of 19-for-21, his only losses coming by a short head and a nose in January 2024. The son of Shamexpress and the Per Incanto mare Missy Moo was still raw back then, but he’s in full bloom now at the age of five.

Ka Ying Rising’s connections know just how blessed they are to be involved with this force of nature. 

“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,” Purton told the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Leo Schlink. 

“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.

“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.

“It was pretty straightforward,” Purton recapped. “He jumped well, he was in a lovely rhythm behind Copartner Prance. Patch of Theta went to move around me about the 1200 meters, and I just made sure I was going to give my horse plenty of room. And then he just did his job – he did what he does.

“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.”

Hayes likewise commented on what the future holds, a familiar program including a repeat bid in The Everest (G1) at Randwick in October.

“If we can place him conservatively, we hope to have him for another couple of seasons, that’s really exciting,” Hayes said. “He loves a month between runs, so we’ll probably go for the Sprint Cup (G2) next (on April 6), and then we don’t have to train him too hard and babysit him into the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (G1) (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 300 meters, 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,” Hayes added, “so to continuously win for 742 days is mind-numbing. It’s two and a half years.

“And the thing people don’t realize 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 100 meters. I said to him, ‘let him run through the post and we’ll see how strong he is at 1400 meters.’ 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 to.”