The stage is set for Hong Kong International Day next month with Hong Kong superstars Ka Ying Rising (NZ) and Romantic Warrior (IRE) winning their respective lead up races at Sha Tin on Sunday in dazzling fashion.
Fresh from his history making win in the $20million The Everest at Randwick in Sydney last month, the David Hayes trained Ka Ying Rising looked fabulous in the yard despite his travels and ran accordingly in the Group II BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m).
The five year-old son of Shamexpress made it look all too easy with Zac Purton sending him forward from an outside gate to stalk the pace and when he popped the question it was all over.
Ka Ying Rising has that top gear few horses have and he duly employed it to skip away and win by nearly three lengths over another Kiwi bred sprinter in Fast Network with the clock stopping at 1.07.33. It was marginally outside his own track record of 1m 07.20s – despite being eased down over the last 100m by Purton.
It was a 15th consecutive win for KA Ying Rising, who has now won 16 of 18 starts with two seconds.
Ka Ying Rising’s 15th consecutive win leaves him third overall for the most wins in a row by a Hong Kong, China-trained horse behind Silent Witness (17) and Golden Sixty (16).
“He just looks better all the time. He’s mentally getting better. It’s hard to say that he’s improving or that he’s going to get better, but he’s certainly enjoying what he’s doing and handling it really well,” Purton said.
“It was good to see him win like that today without having to go to the bottom of him, so it’s a nice confidence-boosting win as he comes back. I’ve never seen him look so good. We were hoping he was going to do that, and it’s good for him to back up what we were thinking.
“Mid-race, Beauty Waves was probably just half a step too slow – I know we’ve run nearly a track record time – but he (Ka Ying Rising) was on his tippy toes behind him wanting to go quicker. That’s the beauty with this horse, the faster they go, the better he is.
“I got to the stage where I had to let him roll into it because otherwise it was going to be detrimental to him.”
David Hayes believed KA Ying Rising was at the top of his game and was pleased to have that view justified.
To the eye, I thought it was probably one of his best wins. That was as easy as I’ve seen him do it – maybe in this race last year, but I thought it was probably better than this one last year when he (Purton) did the kiss cam,” he said.
“Zac agreed with me. He thought he gave him probably the best feel in the last 15 (races), so that’s a great sign. He just showed us that he’s right on song. He raced at the heaviest Hong Kong weight (1,158lb) he’s ever been today, which suggests he’s getting bigger, stronger, better.
“It’s just a dream come true to have a horse like this, and I really want to thank my team that travelled him overseas and didn’t miss a beat with him and brought him back in better condition than he left.
“He’ll be set for (2026) The Everest now again and, of course, we’ve got the big international race in three weeks which is his short-term grand final, so it’s all very exciting.”
Ka Ying Rising is the first winner for Missy Moo, a five time winning Per Incanto (USA) mare that traces directly back to blue hen Taiona, the dam of Group I winners Sovereign Red, Gurner’s Lane and Trichelle with the family also producing modern day superstar Mr Brightside.
Both Mr Brightside and Ka Ying rising have Taiona as their fourth dam!
Irish bred 2023 Cox Plate hero Romantic Warrior made a triumphant return to racing when ambling to an emphatic victory in the Group II BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m) for jockey James McDonald and trainer Danny Shum.
Resuming after 232 days between races after surgery to his left fore fetlock, globe-trotting superstar Romantic Warrior became the first horse to win a third BOCHK Jockey Club Cup after victories in 2022 and 2024.
He scored by a length and a half over Aussie bred Voyage Bubble, who set the pace and won the Group I HK International Mile last year.
“He’s so special. It takes the words out of my mouth to be fair, it’s an absolute privilege to ride him and every time he goes around there’s a huge smile on the face. He’s really touching, that horse,” McDonald said.
“Him (Danny) and his team just gloat over him, he’s a special horse – one of a kind. His training performance is incredible. To have him looking how he did, feeling how he did and performing how he did was a real testament to his training ability.”
