Moments after Ka Ying Rising forged into Hong Kong racing history with a record-equalling win in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (25 January), David Hayes predicted the world\u2019s best sprinter could potentially break Sha Tin\u2019s 1400m course record next month.<\/p>
Reacting to Ka Ying Rising\u2019s effort to post a 17th consecutive victory to match the winning streak of Silent Witness from 2002 to 2005, Hayes believes the superstar galloper can threaten Sha Tin\u2019s 1400m record of 1m 19.92s \u2013 jointly held by Encouraging and Packing Hermod \u2013 when he contests the HK$13 million G1 Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) on 22 February.<\/p>
\u201cLast year, he worked a bit and won it (Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup), and I think he\u2019s a stronger, better horse this year,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cI think he will handle the 1400m beautifully. I\u2019m really excited for the next race. It\u2019s another dimension for him.<\/p>
\u201cLast year, he nearly broke the course record at 1400m, and I think if the conditions are right, he can go close again.\u201d<\/p>
Ridden by Karis Teetan in last year\u2019s Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup in the absence of regular rider Zac Purton, who was injured, Ka Ying Rising clocked 1m 20.33s.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13377″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Ka Ying Rising today clocked 1m 07.66s \u2013 outside his own 1200m Sha Tin turf track record of 1m 07.20s \u2013 after being allowed to coast to the line in defeating Helios Express by one-and-a quarter lengths with Fast Network a further two lengths back.<\/p>
Moderately away at the start, Ka Ying Rising quickly mustered speed to lead before Matthew Chadwick drove Beauty Waves to the front. Aware of Luke Ferraris and Lucky With You lurking to his outside, Purton ensured Ka Ying Rising had clear running before unleashing the gelding from the 300m.<\/p>
Exploding clear, and with the race at his mercy with a four-length lead, Purton eased up noticeably over the final 200m, clocking a modest 11.47s.<\/p>
\u201cThe winning margin wasn\u2019t probably the greatest, but it\u2019s probably the most Zac has ever eased him down,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cSo, he had a very easy last 200 metres and he dominated as the market suggested he would. Just nice to see him do it.\u201d<\/p>
Ka Ying Rising improved his record to 18 wins from 20 starts and is unbeaten since the 12 February, 2024 with career prizemoney of HK$129.8 million.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13378″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Celebrating his fourth win in the race after victories with Aerovelocity (2016), Lucky Sweynesse (2023) and Ka Ying Rising last season, Purton said: \u201cWhat can I say? We\u2019ve said it all with the horse.<\/p>
\u201cI just had to make sure my bloke was in a rhythm. I\u2019m surprised he run the time he run because it didn\u2019t feel like he ran that quick sort of mid-early in the race. Yeah, he just different class.<\/p>
\u201cI never thought I would see it (a record-equalling 17th win in a row), to be honest. It\u2019s very, very rare what Silent Witness did and what Ka Ying has been able to do so far \u2013 and let\u2019s hope he can keep going on with it.\u201d<\/p>
\u201cAfter Silent Witness, I don\u2019t think anyone thought they would ever see it again. Fortunately for us who are involved with the horse, he\u2019s equalled him and can hopefully put his own benchmark.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty nice when you look at the big screen and you\u2019re a long way in front, I can tell you. A race is a race. You\u2019ve still got to go out and do it and hopefully he can hold his form, which we will expect he will.<\/p>
\u201cHe\u2019s got a big race next time, obviously he goes up in distance but he\u2019s up for it.\u201d<\/p>
Summing up the mood of the six beaten jockeys, Helios Express\u2019 rider Hugh Bowman said: \u201cAnother sound, consistent performance. The slower pace didn\u2019t suit, neither does the fast pace when you\u2019re chasing that horse.\u201d<\/p>
The Centenary Sprint Cup was the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series, which also includes the Queen\u2019s Silver Jubilee Cup and the HK$24 million G1 Chairman\u2019s Sprint Prize (1200m) on 26 April.<\/p>
A HK$5 million bonus is on offer to the winner of all three legs.<\/p>
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday (28 January).<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”13376″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Moments after Ka Ying Rising forged into Hong Kong racing history with a record-equalling win in the HK$13 million G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (25 January), David Hayes predicted the world\u2019s best sprinter could potentially break Sha Tin\u2019s 1400m course record next month.Reacting to Ka Ying… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":13379,"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-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13373"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13373"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13454,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13373\/revisions\/13454"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-gentlemens-raceday\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}