Silent Witness odds-on in bid to run record to 14 for 14

The undefeated and apparently unconquerable Silent Witness puts his perfect record on the line in Sunday's $576,900 Bahunia Sprint Trophy at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.

Silent Witness, a Hong Kong champion who at 123 pounds was rated co-highweight sprinter with Pico Central on the 2004 World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings, has won all 13 of his starts, each on the Sha Tin turf course between five and six furlongs. Last time, on Dec. 12, he won his second Hong Kong Sprint against an international field over the Bahunia's five-furlong distance. A 5-year-old Australian-bred gelding, Silent Witness won the Group 1 Bahunia last year on his way to sweeping Hong Kong's Champion Sprint Series. On Sunday he will start at odds no longer than 1-10 against just six foes.

Three of his rivals - Planet Ruler, Able Prince, and Multidandy - finished third, fifth, and sixth in the Hong Kong Sprint. A fourth, Firebolt, came home fourth in Silent Witness's 2003 Hong Kong Sprint triumph.

Felix Coetzee, who has ridden Silent Witness to all 13 victories, will be in the saddle again Sunday, and Silent Witness should have no trouble confirming his status as the world's leading turf sprinter.