The anticipation among racing purists ahead of last Sunday’s (25 January) Group 1 double-header at Sha Tin was palpable and, following the towering, history-making feats of KA YING RISING and ROMANTIC WARRIOR, it is amazing to think that reality exceeded even the highest expectations.
KA YING RISING’s effort to win for the 17th consecutive time and equal the long-standing record of the immortal SILENT WITNESS for the most consecutive wins by a Hong Kong horse with victory for David Hayes, Zac Purton and the Ka Ying Syndicate in the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) was the continuation of a truly extraordinary career.
Hong Kong has been renowned for decades for its world-class sprinters. In my opinion, KA YING RISING stands alone as the best sprinter I have seen because a unique capacity to maintain a high cruising speed before unleashing phenomenal acceleration in the straight to quickly terminate even the slightest hint of a challenge.
Since enduring two narrow defeats as a three-year-old to WUNDERBAR in January 2024, KA YING RISING has progressed to status as the world’s premier sprinter, while rising to joint second in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
The winning margin on Sunday was one and a quarter lengths to HELIOS EXPRESS, who ran well for Hugh Bowman and John Size, but had Zac chosen to push KA YING RISING to the finish the eventual margin would undoubtedly have been much larger and the overall time of 1m 07.66s – still a very impressive time and only 0.46s outside of his own course record – would have been even quicker.
KA YING RISING now has 18 wins, including seven Group 1 triumphs, from 20 starts and I look forward to his next appearance in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin on 22 February when he has the opportunity to claim the outright record of the most wins by a Hong Kong trained horse with an 18th straight success and move closer to another sweep of the Hong Kong Speed Series.
We are indeed blessed to have two of the greatest horses in Hong Kong racing history in action at the same time and the continuing excellence of the remarkable ROMANTIC WARRIOR for Danny Shum, James McDonald and Mr Peter Lau is absolutely sensational for our sport globally.
ROMANTIC WARRIOR has a proven capacity to overcome adversity and, after building a reputation as a global champion with Group 1 victories in four separate jurisdictions – Hong Kong, Australia, Japan and the United Arab Emirates – I am delighted Peter has decided to keep ROMANTIC WARRIOR in Hong Kong this season to have attempt the Triple Crown sweep.
ROMANTIC WARRIOR again showed his tremendous class and resilience on Sunday with victory in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m) and despite covering ground in a race which worked out less than perfectly for him, he again showed his superiority.
If ROMANTIC WARRIOR can add the G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) to the Stewards’ Cup and land the Triple Crown, emulating the feats of RIVER VERDON and VOYAGE BUBBLE, I believe this would be the crowning glory of his career.
As it is, ROMANTIC WARRIOR already has a world record HK$247 million in prizemoney and a Hong Kong record 12 Group Ones among his 21 wins and five minor placings from 28 starts. He is an immortal of Hong Kong racing.
To have KA YING RISING and ROMANTIC WARRIOR ranked joint second and joint seventh in the world, respectively, is an incredible accomplishment for Hong Kong racing, which has only 1,322 horses – or about 0.7 of the world’s thoroughbred racehorses – and recognition of our world-class racing.
Sunday’s heroics were another reminder of how fortunate we are in Hong Kong to have these amazing champions racing here at the same time and I was delighted that Sunday’s attendance included 6,700 visitors – double the number of visitors at the corresponding meeting last season – which is more evidence of the growing appeal of horse racing as an equine tourist attraction for Hong Kong.
KA YING RISING and ROMANTIC WARRIOR, along with HELIOS EXPRESS, LUCKY SWEYNESSE and VOYAGE BUBBLE, who finished second and third respectively in the Group 1 races last Sunday, were outstanding performers as four-year-olds, and it is timely that their latest feats serve as a reminder of the importance of Classic Generation excellence ahead of this weekend’s Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m).
This season’s four-year-old group looks to be fascinating mix of sprinters, milers and stayers and the Hong Kong Classic Mile on Sunday (1 February) features several talented young horses with undoubted future potential including SAGACIOUS LIFE, LITTLE PARADISE, INVINCIBLE IBIS, BEAUTY BOLT, CRIMSON FLASH and INFINITE RESOLVE, among others.
Hong Kong’s world-class horse racing returns to Happy Valley tonight (28 January) and we launch our Year of the Horse festivities in the Beer Garden as part of the Chinese New Year Festivities from one of the most exciting horseracing venues in the world.
Attendees can watch outstanding racing from close quarters while, between the races, enjoying fantastic music, dancing, food and beverages.
The Year of the Horse promises to be one of the most memorable in Hong Kong racing history and I urge all passionate racing enthusiasts to join us in what will be an incredible celebration over the next 12 months.
The sporting highlight tonight at Happy Valley is the Class 3 O’Brien Handicap, which is carded as Race 8 and will be run over 1800m at 10.15pm with prizemoney of HK$2,050,000.
The pace will be good with LIVEANDLETLIVE (Matthew Chadwick) likely to lead from gate three. HIGHLAND RAHY (Maxime Guyon) and ROMANTIC THOR (Luke Ferraris) will be prominent from MORGAN SUCCESS (Lyle Hewitson) and ROMANTIC LAOS (Harry Bentley).
CHINA WIN (Keith Yeung) continues to improve with racing and broke through for his first win last start over 1800m at Sha Tin on 11 January. CHINA WIN is trying to secure a place in the BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) in March and, despite rising in class, is a win and place chance with only 115lb.
JUMBO LEGEND (Hugh Bowman) drops in class and has had five runs this season, finishing close behind the placed horses on each occasion. Hugh rode JUMBO LEGEND twice last season, winning on both occasions and goes back aboard tonight. JUMBO LEGEND is a place chance.
SOLID WIN (Dylan Browne McMonagle) returned to top form last start finishing strongly to beat CORLEONE and YOUNG ACHIEVER over 1650m on 7 January. SOLID WIN has spent time at Conghua since and, stepping out to 1800m, is a place chance.
LIVEANDLETLIVE was disappointing last start when he led and faded in the straight when unplaced behind MONEY CATCHER over 1800m on 11 January at Sha Tin. LIVEANDLETLIVE should get an easier time in front here and his previous for at Happy Valley was very consistent. LIVEANDLETLIVE is a place chance.
MONEY CATCHER (Derek Leung) returned to the winner’s list after a long absence when he scored over 1800m at Sha Tin last start and is a place chance, while ENTHRALLED (Alexis Badel) and I CAN (Andrea Atzeni) are both capable of being competitive on their best form.
This race is also important from the perspective of the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge for I CAN (22 points), who can potentially move to second on the leaderboard behind REGAL GEM (42) if he wins tonight and claims 15 points for the victory.
Similarly, MIGHTY COMMANDER (26), TRIUMPHANT MORE (21) and STORMING DRAGON (21) can all enhance their overall positions in the series with strong performances in the Class 3 Southorn Handicap, which is carded as Race 9 and is run over 1200m at 10.50pm.
The DBS x Manulife Million Challenge finale will be held at Happy Valley next Wednesday (4 February).
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