Hall eyes second Premier Bowl win 20 years after Absolute Champion

Twenty years after Absolute Champion sprang a 34-1 upset in the Premier Bowl, David Hall returns to Sunday's edition with another five-year-old whose improvement has brought a Group race within reach.

Absolute Champion carried just 111 pounds when winning the 2006 contest under Eddy Lai Wai-ming before going on to claim that year's Hong Kong Sprint and Hall now has Ka Ying Attack chasing his fourth consecutive victory in the Group 2 Lukfook Jewellery Premier Bowl (1,200m).

The son of Too Darn Hot completed a hat-trick when winning the Class 2 Yuen Long Handicap (1,200m) on October 11, a victory that also brought up Hall's 700th Hong Kong winner.

Ka Ying Attack has climbed to a career-high rating of 97 and makes his Group debut under 119 pounds, receiving 16 pounds from topweight Raging Blizzard in a race that Hall believes has arrived at an opportune time.

“It’s a big step up in grade, absolutely,” Hall said. "But he was in the zone at the end of last season, and he's come back and shown that he's gone right on with that form.

“When they get to that sort of rating, there's not a huge amount of options. And, of course, without Ka Ying Rising around, it is going to be a little bit shallow, and it's a bit of an open opportunity at handicap conditions. So the horse is fit and well, and he'll take his chance.”

It has taken time for Ka Ying Attack to reach this stage, and Hall believes the change has been as much about the horse's temperament as his physical development.

“Well, I think it's just confidence. He was always a little bit nervous around other horses. Blinkers on, visor on, blinkers off, and he was just a little bit immature,” Hall said.

“He's gotten stronger and stronger, but not only physically. He's got stronger mentally, and now he knows how to be a racehorse. He can actually show himself off a hell of a lot better. So that's taken him a long way.”

His latest victory offered perhaps the clearest evidence of that progress.

Ka Ying Attack had raced either leading or on-pace when winning his final two starts last season, but Hall decided against asking him to go forward from barrier 10 on his return, concerned that the expected early pace would leave him covering too much ground.

Matthew Poon Ming-fai settled him near the rear instead, and Ka Ying Attack worked his way through along the inside before defeating Turquoise Velocity by three-quarters of a length.

The willingness to settle behind horses and take a run through the field gives Hall more options than he had earlier in the gelding's career.

“Well, the horse is quite flexible in what you can do with him now. He went up inside horses, and he's become a real racehorse. So he's got plenty of strings to his bow and he's got a light weight.”

The Premier Bowl has attracted some of Hong Kong's leading sprinters since its introduction in 2005, and Sunday's renewal gives several established performers an opportunity to add to its history.

John Size has won the race a record four times, through Rich Unicorn (2011), Mr Stunning (2017), Hot King Prawn (2018) and Sight Success (2023), and is represented by Raging Blizzard, who has spent much of his recent career competing against Ka Ying Rising at Group 1 level.

That form has left Raging Blizzard at the top of Sunday's handicap under 135 pounds, although he has not won since January 5, 2025, a drought that will reach 658 days by Sunday.

The seven-year-old finished second to Tomodachi Kokoroe in last year's Premier Bowl under 121 pounds and now faces a considerably heavier impost. Victory would make him only the second horse to win the race carrying 135 pounds, following Wellington in 2022.

Tomodachi Kokoroe has his own piece of history to chase.

The David Hayes-trained eight-year-old won last year's edition under 115 pounds and returns on 122, bidding to become the first horse to win consecutive Premier Bowls.

Only Cerise Cherry has won the race twice, in 2010 and 2012, and no eight-year-old has succeeded in its first 21 runnings.

Victory for Tomodachi Kokoroe would also give Hayes a third consecutive Premier Bowl following Ka Ying Rising's triumph in 2024.

The question for Hall now is whether Ka Ying Attack can continue improving now that he has reached a level where the opposition becomes tougher.

“The outcome of this will still sort of plot his path, of course. But when they're in such good form, you just don't know where they're going to get to, and the race has probably come around at the right time. So we'll see what it brings us.”

The Group Two Premier Bowl Stats and Facts

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