Ka Ying Rising Wins Record 18th Straight Race In Course Record Time

[Wandering Eyes]

The weight of history laid heavy on the strapping shoulders of Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising at Sha Tin on Sunday. Tied with Hong Kong wunderkind Silent Witness (El Moxie) on 17 consecutive wins for a Hong Kong-trained horse, the son of Shamexpress proved worthy of the task and demolished the G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup to make the record his own. He shredded the course record for 1400 metres in the process, crossing the line in 1:19.36. Thanks to his heroics, the five-year-old gelding snapped the previous course record for the distance of 1:19.92 held by Encouraging and Packing Hermod.

With regular rider Zac Purton aboard, the duo garnered heavy favouritism at 1-20 to pen their own entry in the history books. Away in good order from stall three, he tracked Copartner Prance (Epaulette) in second for the first 800 metres, but gave every indication he'd deliver when called upon. Rolling to the front 400 metres out after Purton just shook the reins, Ka Ying Rising dazzled in the straight, winning by 3 1/2 over last year's runner-up Helios Express (Toronado). He covered the final 800 metres in a blistering :43.96. The 2023 winner of this race, Lucky Sweynesse (Sweynesse) was third, another 1 1/4 lengths back and a nose to the good of Galaxy Patch (Wandjina) in fourth.

Jockey Zac Purton confirmed trainer David Hayes had told him pre-race “to break the track record” after he had ridden Ka Ying Rising hands-and-heels to the finish.

“If we can place him conservatively, we hope to have him for another couple of seasons, that's really exciting,” Hayes said of the 2025 world's highest rated sprinter. “He loves a month between runs, so we'll probably go for the G2 Sprint Cup (6f/1200m) next on 6 April and then we don't have to train him too hard and babysit him into the Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m on 26 April).

“Hopefully we can get another clean sweep of the season again with The Everest in the middle.

“He's more composed than ever, he's changing legs and you can't ask for much more than he's doing. He's breaking track records and his last three runs, he'd have broken the track record if Zac had let him go.

“He jumped so well (today) and cruised through the bend beautifully – at the 300m, I could really enjoy it. I could tell he had the race in command. Zac went for him a bit more than he normally does and rode to instructions, which was good.

“I've trained a lot of horses that have gone 742 days without winning, so to continuously win for 742 days is mind-numbing. It's two and a half years and the thing people don't realise is that he was the [equal] youngest horse in the race today. They always think he's the big boy bashing them up, but he's actually the baby.

“It's a huge relief. I didn't think the team could have had him better for today and I was confident that if the track was riding fast, he could break the (track) record. I didn't want Zac sitting up in the last 100m, I said to him 'let him run through the post and we'll see how strong he is at 1400m'. He's just a star.

“I just thought for his worldwide ratings, I wanted Zac to let him go today and hopefully he can keep climbing up that incredible ladder that he's going up. When you've got a horse as good as him, he's the one everyone will be comparing the next big horse too.”

It was Purton's fifth win in the race after Ambitous Dragon in 2013 and Beauty Generation in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

“I think he's reached his level and it's just a matter of managing him now and try to preserve that for as long as we can,” Purton said. “He's the horse of a lifetime. I just shake my head every time with the performances he puts up and the ease with which he does.

“I've just got to pinch myself, I'm so lucky.  He's just different – he's in a league of his own. To be etched in history now forever is part of my legacy, part of David's and a part of Ka Ying Rising and hopefully he can continue on doing what he's doing. We're all enjoying being associated with him and I think everyone is enjoying watching him being successful as well.

“The horse deserves all the credit. He's the one with the ability and he continues to step out, race after race, and blow good quality horses away and it's very unique to see that.”

Unbeaten since February 2024, Ka Ying Rising's streak includes eight Group 1s – two Longines Hong Kong Sprint victories (2024/2025), two Centenary Sprint Cup titles (2025/2026), The Everest (2025) in Australia, the Chairman's Sprint Prize (2025) and now a pair of Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup trophies (2025/2026).

Pedigree Notes

The New Zealand-based Shamexpress has sired 16 stakes winners (11 group) from 239 runners. Ka Ying Rising is his most decorated runner, but the son of Northern Dancer-line horse O'Reilly also has dual Group 1 winner Coventina Bay to his credit.

The first foal for his five-time winning dam Missy Moo (Per Incanto), Ka Ying Rising has year-younger half-brother Ka Ying Glory (Turn Me Loose) also racing in Hong Kong.  This female line is responsible for Australasian top-level winners Gurner's Lane (Sir Tristram), Sovereign Red (Sir Tristram), Trichelle (Sir Tristram), Foxwood (Centaine), and group winner and G1 Thousand Guineas third Fuji Dancer (Fuji Kiseki).

Sunday, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
QUEEN'S SILVER JUBILEE CUP-G1, HK$13,000,000, Sha Tin, 2-23, 3yo/up, 1400mT, 1:19:36 (NCR), gd.
1–KA YING RISING (NZ), 126, g, 5, by Shamexpress (NZ)
            1st Dam: Missy Moo (NZ), by Per Incanto
            2nd Dam: Royal Rhythm (NZ), by Rhythm
            3rd Dam: Her Dynasty (NZ), by Sir Tristram (Ire)
O-Ka Ying Syndicate; B-Grandmoral Lodge Racing (NZ); T-David
Hayes; J-Zac Purton; HK$7,280,000. Lifetime Record: HotY-HK,
G1SW-Aus, 21-19-2-0, HK$133,957,651. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Helios Express (Aus), 126, g, 6, Toronado (Ire)–Paris Texas
(Aus), by Hinchinbrook (Aus). O-Andy Yung Ming Tai; B-C Wells
(WA); T-John Size; J-Hugh Bowman; HK$2,730,000. *Known in
Australia as Tex Mex.
3–Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), 126, g, 7, Sweynesse (Aus)–Madonna
Mia (NZ), by Red Clubs (Ire). (NZ$90,000 2yo '20 NZBRTR).
O-Cheng Ming Leung, Cheng Yu Tung, Cheng Mei Mei, Cheng
Yu Wai; B-P L Dombroski, Explosive Breeding Ltd & SA Sharrock
(NZ); T-K L Man; J-K C Leung; HK$1,495,000.
Margins: 3HF, 1 1/4, NS. Odds: 0.05, 43.00, 45.00.
Also Ran: Galaxy Patch (Aus), Raging Blizzard (NZ), Copartner Prance (Aus), Sunlight Power (Aus), Patch Of Theta (Aus), Red Lion (Ire), Packing Hermod (Aus). Click for the HKJC chart or VIDEO.

 

YOU ARE INCREDIBLE!

Magic at Sha Tin as Ka Ying Rising reaches 18 wins in succession – the most for a Hong Kong-trained horse in history – by landing a second straight Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup under @zpurton for David Hayes… #SpeedSeries | #HKracing pic.twitter.com/2ZesTJ9tIb

— HKJC Racing (@HKJC_Racing) February 22, 2026

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