Ka Ying Rising shatters Sha Tin track record in dominant return

It’s hard to imagine the world’s best racehorse rising to a new level after a Hong Kong record 20 consecutive wins, but Ka Ying Rising proved he has elevated his game again with a jaw-dropping victory on Sunday.

In arguably one of the greatest performances on the Sha Tin turf, the superstar sprinter launched his latest campaign in a blaze of glory, shattering his own track record by almost a second in his Group Three HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup romp.

With all eyes firmly on the clock, as has been the case through the latter part of his dominant winning streak, most could not believe his time of 1:06.11 – about five lengths better than the previous record of 1:07.10 he set in the Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize in April.

That winning time is in rare air worldwide. Disco Partner won in an extraordinary 1:05.67 at Belmont racecourse in America in 2017, T M Spada won in 1:05.80 at Japan’s Kokura track in 2022 and First Force clocked 1:06.00 at the same track in 2021.

It is a difficult task weighing up times on different tracks – they all have different configurations, conditions on the day and even timing methods. The American and Japanese times that were quicker than Ka Ying Rising’s were timed by running starts.

However, adding more credit to Ka Ying Rising’s performance is the fact the three horses who posted quicker 1,200m times than him carried far less weight than the 135lb he lumped on Sunday.

The naysayers will point to Ka Ying Rising’s moderate opposition – runner-up Copartner Prance is a Group Three winner who is better suited over 1,400m and 1,600m, while third-placed Magic Control has only won up to Class Two level in Hong Kong.

Fast Network, who is arguably the city’s second-best sprinter behind Ka Ying Rising, was racing in Japan on Sunday and perennial runner-up to Ka Ying Rising, Helios Express, was not ready to return in the season-opening feature.

But ultimately, the clock does not lie. It was the win of a freakish horse who deserves to stand alone as the world’s best – not sharing that title with Britain’s Ombudsman, as he currently does according to the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

“We humbly would say that if Ka Ying Rising pushes even a little bit more, he can run even faster,” Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“I would like to get a look at his pedigree, because I don’t believe he is from this Earth.”

David Hayes and Zac Purton were keen to give Ka Ying Rising a stronger hit out in his return with a view to an improved performance on his Group One The Everest (1,200m) victory at Randwick last year.

After putting on a dazzling show on Sunday, expect him to do much the same – if not more – come October 17 in Australia.