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Clocking one of the fastest 1200m times ever recorded at Sha Tin, Ka Ying Rising continued a relentless march towards the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in December with imperious victory in the G2 Premier Bowl Handicap (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (20 October).
Posting his seventh win from nine starts, Ka Ying Rising (128lb) was unextended in running 1m 07.57s to narrowly miss eclipsing Sacred Kingdom's long-standing 1200m course record of 1m 07.50s while cruising to a one and a half length margin over Helios Express (115lb). Three-time Group 1 winner California Spangle (135lb) was third, a further one and a half lengths away.
Last season's Hong Kong Champion Griffin and Most Improved Horse, Ka Ying Rising jumped cleanly and settled third behind California Spangle and Harmony N Blessed before unleashing a devastating sprint over the final 200m to give Zac Purton his third Premier Bowl win and David Hayes his first.
"Zac came in and said 'When do you want to break the track record?'," Hayes said. "He's a very special horse. He can quicken off a fast pace. Those two horses in front are fast horses. I'm very excited about him.
"You really felt comfortable at the 600m mark with the Zac positioned him perfectly. He's got a good turn of foot when he lets him down and I think he's got a little bit more to offer."
Hayes has mapped an ambitious programme for the Shamexpress gelding, who will next contest the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) on 17 November in preparation for the HK$26 million LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint on 8 December.
"He's getting stronger and physically he's still got a bit of improvement in him. He hasn't got the body of California Spangle, but he went up 14 pounds between runs and he's getting stronger," Hayes said before indicating Ka Ying Rising would also be set for the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) on 31 January.
"The Classic Mile is part of his programme. He relaxes, takes the box seat and he was actually bought as a 1400m horse or a miler. For a four-year-old race, I'll give it a go, that's the race to try it in.
"He's bred to run a mile, he's got the manners to run a mile and after that we can work out whether we keep him as a sprinter or be tempted by the (BMW Hong Kong) Derby (2000m). He relaxes beautifully and that's what a good horse does."
Purton, who has ridden some of Hong Kong's best sprinters including Lucky Sweynesse and Aerovelocity, said Ka Ying Rising continued to mature and improve with each run.
"He's getting better every start, he's just handling the pre-race things a lot better and standing a lot better in the gates. He's a really intelligent horse, he knows his job really well now and hopefully this is just the start of what could be an exciting journey," Purton said.
"He always had it in his control. I just had Beauty Waves getting on my heels mid-race, firing him up a little bit, but apart from that it all went pretty smoothly.
"He hasn't got to his grand final yet and produced a performance like that so until he does that, he's still got it ahead of him but he continues to improve. He's maturing all the time, he seems to be handling his races a lot better, pulling up nicely.
"It's another soft win for him today. Even though he's run really good time, it's a win that shouldn't take a lot out of him and there's a nice gap now between his next run and the one after. I didn't have to really get to the bottom of him so hopefully he eats up well and is happy."
Purton and Hayes both celebrated trebles.
Purton scored on Francis Lui's Packing Hermod in the Class 3 Shared Prosperity Handicap (1200m) and also combined with Hayes and Master Mastermind in the Class 4 Community Growth Handicap (1400m).
Hayes also struck with Youth Power in the Class 5 The With You. Then. Now. Always. Handicap (1600m) under Keith Yeung. A three-time winner in Italy as a two-year-old, the gelding had been unplaced in 15 attempts until today's success.
Mark Newnham's strong season continued with a double. The Australian produced Win Speed to land the Class 4 You Make Good Possible Handicap (1400m) for Matthew Chadwick before former Argentina Group 1 winner Bravehearts snared the Class 3 Creative Spirit Handicap (1600m) under Matthew Poon.
John Size teamed with Brenton Avdulla to win the Class 4 Striding On Together Handicap (1200m) with Majestic Express before Karma posted his third win in four starts with success in the Class 2 HKJC 140th Anniversary Cup Handicap (1600m) for Caspar Fownes.
Cody Mo's Hong Kong International Sale graduate Patch Of Time finished powerfully under Karis Teetan to land the Inspiring Community Handicap (1200m) before Ricky Yiu-trained Green N White resumed in convincing fashion by winning the Class 3 Love Racing Handicap (1400m) for Hugh Bowman.
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Wednesday night (23 October).