Ka Ying Rising primed for The Everest after setting fifth 1200m Sha Tin course record

By Leo Schlink

David Hayes declared Ka Ying Rising “bigger, stronger and better” as the world’s best sprinter shattered Sha Tin’s 1200m track record for the fifth time before immediately entering quarantine on Sunday (6 September) in preparation for a defence of the G1 The Everest (1200m) in Sydney, Australia next month.

Clocking a blistering 1m 06.11s to destroy his own 1200m record by almost a second, Ka Ying Rising (135lb) stretched his winning streak to a Hong Kong record 21 consecutive wins and claimed a third HK$4.2 million G3 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m) under Zac Purton, prompting Hayes to describe the victory as one of the six-year-old’s finest.

“He spent five or six hours under veterinary attention on Tuesday (1 September) to have the bruising in his hind leg checked out,” Hayes said. “He was having CT scans and Doppler scans under sedation. That would throw most horses off their routine, but he just takes everything in his stride – and then comes out and breaks the track record again.

“Zac basically eased down in the same race last year for the last 200m, and he let him run to the line today. He hasn’t been let run to the line many times, and of course he smashed his own record – and you don’t see that very often – by (almost) a second.

“He’s 29lb heavier (1,172lb) than (he was when he set) last season’s track record time and probably nine (pounds) above his best winning weight, so he’s got bigger, stronger and better.”

Posting one of the most dynamic performances of his mercurial career, Ka Ying Rising improved his overall record to 22 wins and two seconds from 24 starts with prizemoney of HK$160,923,900.

Conceding most of his rivals 20lb, Ka Ying Rising forged straight to the lead and ran 23.27s for the first 400m, a searing 21.15s between the 800m and 400m before closing off the final 400m in 21.69s to defeat Copartner Prance (115lb) by seven and three-quarter lengths. Magic Control (115lb) was third, a further length-and-a-half back.

Both Hayes and Purton predicted Ka Ying Rising was capable of improvement this season despite finishing last preparation with three record-breaking runs in succession – running 1m 19.36s in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), 1m 07.12s in the G2 Sprint Cup (1200m) and 1m 07.10s in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m).

The superstar first broke Sacred Kingdom’s longstanding Sha Tin 1200m mark of 1m 07.50s with a gallop of 1m 07.43s in the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) in 2024 before lowering it to 1m 07.20s in the 2025 G1 Centenary Sprint Cup.

Remarkably, Hayes believes the Shamexpress gelding is still open to further development after he was allowed to coast over the final 100m today while lowering the course record by 0.99s.

Purton agreed: “We’ve both said that he’s a bigger, stronger horse and that didn’t mean he came back fat. He came back physically more developed and stronger and he’s feeling great. He hasn’t raced since April, so any amount of racing is going to improve him.

“I’m not going to stand there and say he’s going to improve lengths off that – and I said before, he doesn’t need to – but I’m sure he’s going to pull up better for the run.

“When I pulled up, I was interested to see what time he run because the track was very fast during the barrier trials here last week; it’s firm out there today, and they ran good time in the first race.

“I sort of let him really get into his rhythm and I asked him for an effort, so I just wanted to see where we were at and, obviously, we’re in a good place.”

“There could be people out there saying he beat nothing but a few of those horses have won 20 or 25 million Hong Kong dollars. They’re well-rated horses. They’re Group horses around the world, but they don’t look it when they race him. They get taken out of their comfort zone,” Hayes said.

Ka Ying Rising entered quarantine less than two hours after caning his opposition, and Hayes is confident the sprinter will be fitter this year when he contests AU$20 million (approx. HK$112 million) The Everest than he was when triumphing in the world’s richest turf race in 2025.

“We had him far too fresh arriving in Sydney. I don’t like to change much when they win like that, so we’ll just continue with a bit more base work and that’s holding him in better stead for when he arrives (in Sydney), mentally. It’s more about mentally not arriving too fresh,” Hayes said.

“I have no fears because he thrives at Canterbury and he did well here (in quarantine).”

Ka Ying Rising was one of three horses to excel in the fast conditions at Sha Tin today.

Good Fortune (112lb) posted a new class record of 1m 08.59s in the Class 5 Glenealy Handicap (1200m) for Pierre Ng and Nichola Yuen, before Danny Shum’s General Smart (124lb) clocked a new class record of 1m 33.91s in landing the Class 5 Harcourt Handicap (1600m) under Andrea Atzeni.

Shum also combined with Purton to clinch the Class 4 Duddell Handicap (1000m) with Lightness Of Music (135lb) before David Eustace and Luke Ferraris teamed with Light Years Glory (126lb) to win the second section of the Class 4 Edinburgh Handicap (1200m).

Francis Lui’s talented Baby Sakura (131lb) remains on course for a tilt at the Four-Year-Old Classic Series with a dogged win under Vincent Ho in the Class 3 Cotton Tree Handicap (1400m).

Securing his fourth win from seven starts, the Tagaloa gelding is being aimed at the HK$14 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 31 January.

Atzeni sealed a double aboard John Size’s Spicy Standard (135lb) in the first section of the Class 4 Edinburgh Handicap (1200m) before Matthew Chadwick coaxed the best out of 104/1 chance Sing Dragon (119lb) to win the Class 2 Albert Handicap (1400m) for Chris So.

Hugh Bowman and Mark Newnham opened their seasonal accounts with Joyful Joy (135lb) in the Class 4 Fenwick Handicap (1400m) before Cody Mo’s Jumbo Treasure (132lb) made it five wins from 15 starts with victory in the Class 3 Battery Handicap (1200m) under Derek Leung.

Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (9 September).