IT'S CRUNCH TIME IN KA YING RISING'S RECORD CHASE

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, January 21, 2026

The mighty Silent Witness has been in front for a long way … but Ka Yong Rising has been closing steadily without any hint of slowing down, and now it is crunch time.

We are talking about Silent Witness’s outstanding, currently stand-alone, twenty-one year old record of seventeen straight wins in Hong Kong which is now under huge threat from the David Hayes trained runner who will get up to share the record with Silent Witness if he wins the Group 1 Centenary Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Silent Witness won his very first start on December 26, 2002 and remained unbeaten in that seventeen-win streak until May 14, 2005, when he as beaten for the first time by his stable companion Bullish Luck … by a short-head!

Silent Witness’s unbeaten sequence came over a twenty-nine month period.

Ka Ying Rising has cut that corner.

The son of Shamexpress was defeated twice in his first three starts, but from February 12, 2024, he has put that impeccable run of sixteen wins together, meaning that if he equals Silent Witness’s record on Sunday, he would have done so in a shade under twenty-three months.

He would be level on number of consecutive wins in with Silent Witness and the quickest to get to that record total.

Silent Witness would only win one more race after his winning sequence came to an end… in the Group 1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama in Japan in his only race overseas. Ka Ying Rising, to date, also had only run overseas on one occasion triumphing in The Everest at Randwick.

Silent Witness bowed out with a record of eighteen wins from twenty-nine starts. He was trained by Tony Cruz and Felix Coetzee had the singular honour of being the only jockey to ride him in all of his career starts.

Ka Ying Rising’s race record currently stands at seventeen wins from nineteen starts. He is trained by David Hayes and has been ridden in all but two of his starts by Zac Purton. Karis Teetan did the honours on two occasions.

Earlier this week Ka Ying Rising, who was named the Hong Kong Horse of the Year in 2024/25, was crowned Timeform’s Horse of the Year for 2025 and he also earned the accolade as Timeform’s Champion Sprinter (2025).

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