PURTON BULLISH ABOUT KA YING RISING'S CHANCES

By Darren Winningham | Thursday, December 5, 2024

Zac Purton is bullish about winning the HK$26 million LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (Group 1) on Sunday with the emerging super star Ka Ying Rising trained by David Hayes.

His last start in the Jockey Club Sprint (Group 2), at Sha Tin on 17 November saw Ka Ying Rising step out in the feature race and destroy a solid field, in the process breaking the long standing seventeen-year track record held by Sacred Kingdom – posting an unbelievable time of 1:07.43 for the 1200 metres at Sha Tin.

Purton reflected on that performance saying, “He doesn’t really have to be any better than that. He just has to turn up in the same form … when you break a track record it is as fast as they can go really.”

Purton galloped Ka Ying Rising during the week and confirmed that, … “he is in good form, and I am really happy with the way he is going. He is peaking at the right time. I am looking forward to the race.”

When questioned on the barrier he would like to draw prior to the HKIR barrier draw ceremony, Purton hoped … “midfield would be good … with him it probably doesn’t really matter too much.”

As it turned out, Ka Ying Rising drew barrier 11 in the field of fourteen runners.

Come Sunday he does have to go to a new level and tick that box of winning a Group 1 event, while Purton will be looking to win this race for consecutive years after winning with Lucky Sweynesse in 2023.

He has previously won this race on two other occasions in 2014 and 2016 with Aerovelocity.

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