WILL KA YING RISING'S STAR CONTINUE TO RISE?

By Graham Potter and Darren Winningham | Friday, December 6, 2024

The David Hayes trained Ka Ying Rising will have to overcome a wide draw (number eleven out of fourteen runners) in the HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday, if he is to further advance his already burgeoning reputation as a star on the sprinting scene.

Hayes was clearly in awe of Ka Ying Rising’s potential when he spoke to HRO’s Darren Winningham, and that level of sentiment from such a vastly experience trainer speaks volumes for the horse’s ability.

“An agent identified him in New Zealand as a promising horse … and a Lindsay Park syndicate bought him.

“After ten to twelve weeks his progress was very encouraging,” Hayes told Winno. “He was pretty good in his trials, and they recommended him to me to buy.

“Once he got up here, after about six weeks, he wasn’t pretty good. He was real good.

“He’s the gift that keeps giving. He just keeps getting better.

“We’ve just been marking time with him since his last win (where he broke the track record). When they break track records three weeks out from the Grand Final you don’t need to do much with them.

“It’s about keeping him happy … and keeping him out of trouble really.

‘He galloped on Tuesday on the All-Weather track … and he had his main turf gallop last Thursday. Both gallops were first class.

“He has got a wonderful temperament, and he is easy to train. He is very sound and has a massive stride length … what I call extra action.”

The fact that it was the mighty Sacred Kingdom’s long standing 1200m track record that Ka Ying Rising broke last time out makes that achievement all the more notable.

Throw in Hayes belief that Ka Ying Rising could have gone even faster that day had jockey Zac Purton not eased off over the last 50m, and you begin to understand just how well the horse is going.

Ka Ying Rising will be bidding for no less than his eighth successive win and he could not have been more impressive in putting this winning sequence together … but, for all of that, if that winning sequence is to continue, he will have to rise to a new level on Saturday and tick a box he had not ticked before.

If he were to take out the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, it would be Ka Ying Rising’s first Group 1 win.

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