Ka Ying Rising etched his name into Hong Kong racing history on Sunday, charging to an 18th consecutive victory in the Group 1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) to move past Silent Witness’s famous record – and his jockey and trainer said the scale of the moment only really landed after the line.
Champion jockey Zac Purton, who again had the gelding travelling comfortably before asking him to extend, said the achievement would sit with the team forever.
“We are etched in history forever now, it’s part of my legacy, part of David’s and part of Ka Ying Rising’s. Hopefully he continues going on and doing what he is doing,” Purton said. “We are all enjoying having him do what he is doing and I think everybody is enjoying being associated with him and watching him be successful as well. The horse deserves all the credit, he is the one with all of the ability – he continues to step out race after race and blow good quality horses away – it’s very unique to see that.”
Trainer David Hayes called the win “a huge relief” and said, “We are just so honored to have him.”
Ka Ying Rising delivered in style, stopping the clock in track-record time as he surged clear to win by three-and-a-half lengths from Helios Express and Lucky Sweynesse, with Galaxy Patch fourth. It was the 18th straight win that elevated the five-year-old from champion to icon – a horse officials may eventually need to honour in new ways, just as Silent Witness is remembered with a statue at Sha Tin.
But it was the crowd, and the way it reacted, that gave the afternoon its colour.
On a bright February day at Sha Tin – just three days after a massive Chinese New Year meeting drew 98,000 people, including more than 20,000 visitors from mainland China – the grandstands again felt packed with tourists and young fans who had come for something specific: to say they were there when history happened.
Flags handed out at the gates fluttered in the breeze. Homemade posters and fan art were raised above heads as Ka Ying Rising returned to scale, and clusters of young racegoers leaned over rails with phones out, trying to catch a clear shot of the horse that has come to define a new era alongside fellow champions Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble.
For 25-year-old Martin Yan from Shanghai, the trip was part of a growing ritual built around Hong Kong’s biggest stars.
“I came to Golden Sixty’s final ever race two years ago and I have been to Sha Tin six times in total. I also travelled to Dubai last year to see Romantic Warrior race. I am here today to witness history, we all are.”
Friends Ken Chan Wai-bon and Ben Kwok Wai-ho, both 22, stood among the clusters waving flags and showing off the fan art they had made, tracking Ka Ying Rising’s run with the kind of devotion usually reserved for pop idols.
“Speed, power,” Chan said of what attracted him to the sport. “He is the king,” Kwok added.
Nearby, teenagers Sam Lam Pak-hei and Grace Siu Hoi-Ting, both 19, said they were new to racing – drawn in within the past six months by Ka Ying Rising’s dominance – and Sunday was their first time experiencing Sha Tin in person.
Ka Ying Rising has now won 19 of his 21 starts and has never finished worse than second, his streak beginning in February 2024 and swelling into a run that has captured the imagination beyond the usual racing audience.
“We saw a television show about Hong Kong racing and then started watching the livestream of the racing,” Siu said. “This is my first time at the racecourse.”
