Everything went as expected on Tuesday morning (24 March) for Ka Ying Rising as the eight-time Group 1 winner cruised through a barrier trial in preparation for 6 April\u2019s HK$5.35 million G2 Sprint Cup (1200m), where he\u2019ll attempt to secure a record-extending 19th consecutive win.<\/p>
Trained by David Hayes, Ka Ying Rising clocked a trial-best 57.62s (1000m) in the eight-runner first heat down Sha Tin\u2019s turf straight \u2013 a neck in front of Beauty Waves \u2013 under championship-leading rider Zac Purton, who confirmed the sprinter\u2019s wellbeing.<\/p>
Purton said: \u201cHe\u2019s going really well. It\u2019s good to be back on him. It was a nice little hit-out for him \u2013 he\u2019ll run again in a few weeks, getting ready for (FWD) Champions Day.\u201d<\/p>
Beauty Waves found the early lead before Ka Ying Rising swept effortlessly past him from fourth position. Successful in his past 18 races in Hong Kong and Australia, Ka Ying Rising is currently the world\u2019s top-rated horse after the March edition of the LONGINES World\u2019s Best Racehorse Rankings was released.<\/p>
After the Sprint Cup, Ka Ying Rising will go for a second HK$24 million G1 Chairman\u2019s Sprint Prize (1200m) win on FWD Champions Day (26 April), which serves as the final leg of the HK$5 million Hong Kong Speed Series, comprising the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) and HK$13 million G1 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Ka Ying Rising trials at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hayes said: \u201cHe was nice and relaxed. There were a couple of horses who put a bit of pressure on, but he stretched and got to them very easily \u2013 he won as you\u2019d expect.<\/p>
\u201cI wanted to trial him down the straight because you never know; he might go down the straight somewhere. It\u2019s a good experience for him, and he\u2019s going back from 1400 to 1200 (metres), so he didn\u2019t need a hard trial, hence why I put him over 1000.\u201d<\/p>
Ka Ying Rising \u2013 who last trialled over 1000m on turf at Sha Tin last August prior to today \u2013 earned the Hong Kong Speed Series HK$5 million bonus last season, joining Mr Vitality (1995\/96), Grand Delight (2002\/03), Silent Witness (2003\/04 & 2004\/05) and Lucky Sweynesse (2022\/23) as past recipients. His 18 successive wins is a record for a Hong Kong-trained horse having surpassed the previous mark set by Silent Witness (17).<\/p>
Beauty Waves is also entered for Easter Monday\u2019s Sprint Cup, a fixture that hosts the HK$5.35 million G2 Chairman\u2019s Trophy (1600m), which is where Lucky Sweynesse heads after trialling in 1m 36.81s over 1600m on turf under Derek Leung.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15349″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cHe was good \u2013 he jumped nicely, and he knows what to do. It went smoothly \u2013 he was comfortable, and he came back well. He was just second to Romantic Warrior (in the Stewards\u2019 Cup, G1, 1600m), but he should be ready after this trial for the Group 2 and then the Group 1 (FWD Champions Mile, 1600m),\u201d Leung said.<\/p>
Two horses carrying the iconic Silent Witness silks, Conspiracy Witness (131lb) and Honest Witness (123lb), feature on Wednesday (25 March) at Happy Valley for Hayes.\u00a0<\/p>
Hayes said: \u201cConspiracy Witness has got back to Class 5, and he\u2019s been crying out for more distance. Hopefully, he can stay a bit.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>
Conspiracy Witness tackles the Class 5 Tuen Mun Handicap (2200m) under Irish ace Dylan Browne McMonagle, whose short-term contract concludes tomorrow after commencing on 1 January.<\/p>
Browne McMonagle has 10 winners from 138 rides in Hong Kong.<\/p>
He said: \u201cIt\u2019s been super \u2013 I\u2019ve had plenty of support from a lot of different yards. It\u2019s been a great experience, and I\u2019d love to come back as well.\u201d<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15348″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Hayes saddles eight runners at Happy Valley, including Metro Power (128lb) in the Class 3 Kwu Tung Handicap (1200m) with James Orman booked.<\/p>
\u201cHe has a very awkward gate (11), but he\u2019s a fast horse, and he\u2019ll race on the pace and make his own luck. He\u2019s turned into a nice Happy Valley horse \u2013 he\u2019s had a win and a second there,\u201d Hayes said.<\/p>
Luke Ferraris is seeking consecutive wins with Symbol Of Strength (135lb) in the Kwu Tung Handicap for trainer Frankie Lor. The 78-rated Kodiac gelding breaks from barrier four in the 12-runner finale at the city circuit.<\/p>
\u201cHis form had suggested that he was improving with each and every run. Then he found a race where things worked out for him and he was able to get it done,\u201d Ferraris said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to see him come along the way he has and win for his well-deserving owners.\u201d<\/p>
Wednesday\u2019s (25 March) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley kicks off at 6.40pm with the Class 5 Tuen Mun Handicap (2200m).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15350″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Everything went as expected on Tuesday morning (24 March) for Ka Ying Rising as the eight-time Group 1 winner cruised through a barrier trial in preparation for 6 April\u2019s HK$5.35 million G2 Sprint Cup (1200m), where he\u2019ll attempt to secure a record-extending 19th consecutive win.Trained by David Hayes, Ka Ying Rising… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15346"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15368,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15346\/revisions\/15368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-champions-day\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}