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Ka Ying Rising’s irresistible surge towards Group 1 glory continued at Sha Tin on Sunday (17 November) when David Hayes’ emerging champion sprinter powered to victory in the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m), breaking Sacred Kingdom’s long-standing track record.
Clocking 1m 07.43s despite being eased down over the last 100m by Zac Purton, Ka Ying Rising improved his overall record to eight wins and two seconds from 10 starts and took a stranglehold on the HK$26 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on 8 December.
Reeling off successive sectionals of 21.93s and 22.14s from the 800m, Ka Ying Rising (123lb) swept to a three and a quarter length victory over Howdeepisyourlove (123lb) with Helios Express (123lb) a further short head away in third to eclipse Sacred Kingdom's mark of 1m 07.50s, set in the same race on 17 November, 2007.
There is no doubt Ka Ying Rising could have recorded an even faster time had Purton ridden out the Shamexpress four-year-old, but such was the gelding's superiority Purton had time to blow a kiss to a camera on the inside of the track.
Settling third behind Victor The Winner and Copartner Prance after crossing from barrier 10, Ka Ying Rising stalked the speed before challenging at the 300m and, such was the 1.1 favourite's blinding acceleration, the race was effectively over 200 metres from the finish line.
"I knew it was a track record, so I thought I would seal it with a kiss," Purton said of his celebration. "It's getting scary now how good he's becoming and how easily he's doing it. It's a nice top-up run for the big one (LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint) next month.
"He's certainly come a long way in a short period of time. I was on Aethero, who ran as favourite in the Hong Kong Sprint as a three-year-old but, unfortunately, he had some had some health problems.
"This guy is the only other horse who's improved as rapidly as that, that I've been on. He's just perfect to ride. He's got great gate speed, he relaxes beautifully mid-race and he's got a great turn of foot – it's everything you need in a sprinter. He hasn't won at Group 1 level yet, so he's still got to do a bit.
"Every race, you need things to go right and we had things fall right in our favour today, so that was pleasing, but it was more pleasing for him to do what he did."
David Hayes was relieved and elated post-race.
"He's broken the track record and Zac was waving to the camera with 100m to go. What I loved about it was he forced the issue early the way he come back under him to sit third and fourth. From a trainer's point of view, that is really something to look forward - to have a horse that relaxes in the run," the dual Hong Kong Champion Trainer (1997/98 & 1998/99) said.
"It's a course record held by a superstar (Sacred Kingdom). You've got to be pretty good to get the course record at Sha Tin when you see all these wonderful, promising horses racing on fast ground. To have your horse in the book is a bit of a thrill.
"I love looking at his action on race days – he just has that extra action. When it's time to accelerate, when he ambles up, he really lengthens and puts races to bed really quickly. He's a bottomless pit at the moment.
"He was a late-furnishing horse. I think that probably was why he got defeated a couple times (by Wunderbar) – he was a little bit immature. He thinks he's undefeated because he was beaten a millimetre twice. When you see him walking around, some of the big, established sprinters here in Hong Kong look a bit more furnished than him, so there's plenty more to come from this horse."
Regarding the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, Hayes said: "All he has to do really now is hold his form and I can't see any reason why he won't. We've got 21 more sleeps before the big Group 1 in three weeks, so we're really looking forward to it.
"I think he's the horse they have to beat. I'm not sure what is coming at the moment but they will have a big job to beat him."
John Size-trained pair Howdeepisyourlove and Helios Express again caught the eye with charging runs from the tail of the field. Howdeepisyourlove clocked the race's fastest sectionals (21.57s, 21.86s) in storming from 10th, while Helios Express stormed from eighth (21.69s and 22.15s).
Group 1 winners Invincible Sage, Victor The Winner and California Spangle – all carrying 128lb – finished fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (20 November).