KA YING RISING CLAIMS HIS FIRST GROUP 1 – IS HE THE NEXT HONG KONG SENSATION?

By Darren Winningham | Sunday, December 8, 2024

At his last start at Group 2 level the David Hayes trained sprinter Ka Ying Rising broke the 17-year track record of Silent Witness.

In the lead up to the HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint over 1200 metres questions were still being asked: is he really a Group 1 horse?

Well on Sunday at Sha Tin this question was more than answered when Ka Ying Rising posted his maiden Group 1 victory. The win was his eighth in a row and he claimed another statistic winning as the shortest-priced favourite to ever win the race starting at HK$1.10.

With the prohibitive odds punters would have hoped for an easier run than he endured. He was slowly away and then was placed under pressure throughout the race. The opposition were out to test him and to see whether he was a true Group 1 horse in the making.

In winning the race he posted a time of 1:08.16 and he gave Zac Purton his fourth win in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint. Purton continues to create history in Hong Kong racing.

After the race Purton was full of praise in the win of Ka Ying Rising saying, “Something lunged at the gate just before he went and it took his mind off it and he turned his head, so he was a little bit slow to step.

“Victor The Winner sitting up a head in front of me the whole race just didn’t allow my horse to relax or settle. He became fired up and he was using up a lot of energy through the whole running of the race and that’s obviously told in his performance. A normal horse can’t absorb that and still perform at that level, so I think there’s a lot more credit to his performance.”

“He wasn’t at his best today and is better than this and still got the job done,” Purton said.

Trainer David Hayes posted his first Hong Kong Group 1 winner since 2002. Ironically, he won this race with All Thrills Too in 2002. Hayes now has 98 Group 1 victories and surely will crack 100 in the coming months with his stable continuing to thrive in recent weeks.

Hayes described the efforts of Purton as masterful, “The start wasn’t perfect, and he got pressure when he normally gets a bit of cover, so I think it was a better win than it looked. You’re never confident going into international Group 1s because there’s so many unknowns, but I was as confident as you could be.”

Hayes will wait to see how the gelding recovers before deciding on his next race.

“We’ll see how he pulls up, but the initial one will be the Group 1 sprint in late January, six weeks between the runs and then after that, we’ll make a decision whether we go to the (Hong Kong Classic) mile or not,” Hayes said.

Zac Purton now holds the record of the most victories in LONGINES HKIR history now having twelve victories on this day.

The Ciaron Maher trained Recommendation finished twelfth in the field – probably not assisted by the firm track.

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