There’s no substitute for speed, a thoroughbred’s best weapon, and few have as much of it as Ka Ying Rising. The 5-year-old gelding blasts out of the gate and dares his rivals to catch him, and none have been able to do it for his last 15 races.
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Ka Ying Rising will try to improve his record in graded stakes to 11-for-11 this weekend at Sha Tin, where he’s the 1-20 morning line favorite in the $3.6 million Hong Kong Sprint (G1). He’s gone off at 1-20 in four of his last five races. The only time he wasn’t that short a price was in the $13.22 million Everest (G1), the world’s richest race, at Randwick in Australia. That day, his backers cleaned up at even money.
“It’s quite amazing to think he’ll be in a Group 1 with very good horses, and the second favorite will be 20-1,” trainer David Hayes said after Thursday’s draw. “You just don’t see that.
“It won’t be a walk in the park, but the market says it will be.”
Post time for the Hong Kong Sprint is scheduled for 5:50 a.m. ET Sunday.
Hayes downplayed having drawn the rail for the first time with his world beater.
“You can get blocked in from there, but I don’t think he will,” the 63-year-old Aussie said. “That would be the only concern, but lately he’s so fast out of the gate he gets himself in a very comfortable position in the first 100 meters.”
Zac Purton, Hong Kong’s all-time leader in wins, feels “very lucky” to be riding the best sprinter in training. “You’ve got to pinch yourself, really,” he said. “He’s just a gem, this guy.”
Hayes rates Japanese shipper Satono Reve and Hong Kong-based Helios Express as his main rivals. Satono Reve finished second in the Jubilee Stakes (G1) in June at Royal Ascot. Hugh Bowman, Helios Express’ regular jockey, is hopeful but not confident about his chances.
“Helios Express has outstanding talent and is a genuine Group 1 horse,” Bowman said. “But he has come along at a time when he is taking on a once-in-a-lifetime thoroughbred in Ka Ying Rising, and we all have a healthy respect for him and what he is doing.
“His preparation suggests Ka Ying Rising could be in for a peak performance.”
Helios Express came close in last year’s Sprint, losing by only half a length. Satono Reve was a close third that day, so on paper, those two have the best credentials among the seemingly overmatched challengers.
Retired rider Shane Dye, a member of the New Zealand and Australia Halls of Fame, called Ka Ying Rising “the best sprinter I’ve ever seen.” He ranks him above undefeated Black Caviar (25-for-25) and Silent Witness, rated the world’s best for three consecutive years. Ka Ying Rising, who’s 16-for-18 lifetime, is two victories shy of equaling Silent Witness’s 17-race streak.
“If we can keep him good and healthy,” Hayes said, “he’ll be one of the all-time greats.”
Ed McNamara is an award-winning racing writer who has covered the sport since 1981 for The Bergen (N.J.) Record, Newsday, ESPN, Thorocap, and USRacing. He is the author of Cajun Racing: From the Bush Tracks to the Triple Crown and Racing Around the World, and a contributor to The Most Glorious Crown and The Racetracks of America. He has also written for racing publications in France and Italy.
