During the course of a still emerging, but already amazing racing career, KA YING RISING’s penchant for achieving extraordinary heights has quickly earnt deserved status as the world’s best sprinter and it was wonderful that his quality was further recognised in London on Tuesday (20 January) with the latest release of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
In rising to joint second and a ranking of 128, KA YING RISING became the highest-rated Hong Kong-trained horse in the history of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, eclipsing the marks achieved by retired Hong Kong champions ABLE FRIEND, BEAUTY GENERATION – both 127 – and GOLDEN SIXTY (126).
In the latest standings, David Hayes’ superstar is bracketed in second place with Japanese dirt champion FOREVER YOUNG, MASQUERADE BALL, OMBUDSMAN and SOVEREIGNTY behind CALANDAGAN (130), who not only dominated in the United Kingdom but created history with a drought-breaking G1 Japan Cup (2400m) victory for European-trained horses.
ROMANTIC WARRIOR (127) is also credited with a career-high mark alongside DARYZ and SIERRA LEONE as part of group of 10 Hong Kong-trained horses who attained a ranking of 115 or higher – KA YING RISING, ROMANTIC WARRIOR, VOYAGE BUBBLE (121), LUCKY SWEYNESSE (117), BEAUTY JOY (116), HELIOS EXPRESS (116), RED LION (116), GALAXY PATCH (115), HOWDEEPISYOURLOVE (115) and STRAIGHT ARRON (115).
Hong Kong’s global champion, with Group 1 victories in four different racing jurisdictions, ROMANTIC WARRIOR now stands as joint second alongside ABLE FRIEND and BEAUTY GENERATION in the pantheon of Hong Kong greats for Danny Shum, while Ricky Yiu’s incredible miler/stayer VOYAGE BUBBLE also forged new territory with a career-high mark of 121.
With a horse population of only 1,350 – or 0.7% of the world’s thoroughbred population – Hong Kong, China continues to excel on the global horseracing stage and the elevation of our three ‘Heavenly Horses Kings’ could not be more timely ahead of this Sunday’s (25 January) Group 1 double-header – the HK$13 million Stewards’ Cup (1600m), which features the clash between ROMANTIC WARRIOR and VOYAGE BUBBLE, and the HK$13 million Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m), where KA YING RISING will attempt to equal SILENT WITNESS’s record of 17 successive wins by a Hong Kong-trained horse.
The outstanding quality of Hong Kong’s Group 1 races was also acknowledged with six of our elite races ranked in the top 10 in their respective distance categories in the LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group 1 races.
The G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) was ranked the second-highest sprint in the world, while the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) was ranked third behind the G1 The Everest (1200m) – which was won by KA YING RISING – while the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), G1 Hong Kong Cup (2000m), G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) and G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) all ranked inside the top 10 in their respective distance categories.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup ranked joint 20th overall in the world as the eighth-highest 2000m turf race in the world with an overall rating of 120.50, while the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, which was the seventh-highest 2400m turf race with a rating of 120, the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile ranked as the seventh-highest 1600m turf race, while the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint was the seventh-highest turf sprint race in the world.
Overall,11 of our elite races were included in the LONGINES World’s Top 100 Group 1 races, an increase of eight compared to 2024 and this further validates our commitment to attracting the best international horses, trainers and jockeys to our flagship meetings, which in turn have become a powerful drive as part of the city’s equine tourism attraction.
I would like to thank both local and international connections for their invaluable support as well as the efforts of the Club’s many teams in making our world-class international race days – particularly LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and FWD Champions Day – so successful.
As proud as the Club is of our champion horses, the emergence of quality fresh talent is always exciting and the performances of four-year-olds PATCH OF COSMO, AKASHVANI, EMBLAZON, CITY GOLD BANNER and three-year-olds HOT DELIGHT and COOL BOY at Sha Tin on Sunday (18 January) were certainly very encouraging.
PATCH OF COSMO’s effort to return after a 315-day break and win at the top of Class 3 with 135lb was the performance of a talented horse and if his connections decide to contest the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m), as the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, he will be very competitive based on Sunday’s victory.
Weighing 1,291lb – 49lb more than at his previous start in March last year – PATCH OF COSMO was short of full fitness but won well for Manfred Man and Zac Purton while AKASHVANI secured his place in the Hong Kong Classic Mile with a brilliant three-length success for David Hayes and Brenton Avdulla.
Francis Lui completed a wonderful week, first training a double at Happy Valley to reach 1,000 wins in Hong Kong as a trainer before the very talented HOT DELIGHT won on debut as part of a three-timer for Francis’ stable at Sha Tin.
Dylan Browne McMonagle has been hailed as one of the rising stars of the European riding ranks for some time now and it was great to see the young Irishman get his first win as a jockey in Hong Kong aboard FLOW WATER FLOW for John Size.
Dylan is a tall jockey but, if one closely studies his posture in the saddle, he is very compact and his strength and balance are outstanding. Dylan has come to Hong Kong to test himself against some of the world’s premier jockeys, notably Zac Purton, Hugh Bowman and others, and like the riders who have followed the same pathway, I am confident Dylan will improve for his experiences here.
Hong Kong racing continues at Sha Tin on Wednesday (21 January) with a nine-race card on the All-Weather track. The Class 2 Tin Chak Handicap is carded as Race 4 and will be run over 1650m at 8.15pm.
The pace will be good with NEW FOREST likely to lead from SOLEIL FIGHTER and SWORD POINT with GORGEOUS WIN and CAPITAL DELIGHT next from TALENTS AMBITION.
NEW FOREST (Andrea Atzeni) carried 135lb last start when leading all the way to win over this course and distance convincingly. With three wins and three placings over 1650m at Sha Tin and with only 120lb tonight, he is my win and place choice for Mark Newnham.
Stablemate TALENTS AMBITION (Lyle Hewitson) is on trial for a trip to Dubai for Group races and while yet to win in four starts this season, he was a Class 2 winner over this course and distance last preparation and he is a place chance.
In a small, but intriguing field, SWORD POINT (Derek Leung) is unbeaten on the surface in Hong Kong and won a 1200m trial on the dirt at Conghua on 8 January, beating GORGEOUS WIN (Hugh Bowman) and is also a place chance along with SOLEIL FIGHTER (Zac Purton) and CAPITAL DELIGHT (Vincent Ho).
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