The world’s best sprinter, Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress), will face nine rivals when he attempts to break Silent Witness’ seventeen race winning streak in the Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup on February 22.
The David Hayes-trained and Zac Purton-ridden five-year-old will tackle familiar foes Helios Express and Lucky Sweynesse in the 1400m Group One event, which he prevailed in last year.
Former Aussies Copartner Prance, Galaxy Patch and Packing Hermod, last start winner Patch Of Theta, Hong Kong sprint runner up Raging Blizzard, Champions Mile victor Red Lion and classy performer Sunlight Power are the others whose connections are game enough to challenge Ka Ying Rising.
Since his triumph in The Everest during the spring, Ka Ying Rising has been in dominant form in Hong Kong, effortlessly winning his three subsequent starts at Sha Tin.
Ka Ying Rising was back at the barrier trials at Sha Tin on Tuesday morning and while he had to cover ground in the 1200m dirt heat, he still pulled away to win comfortably for Purton.
“He broke one (minute) eight (seconds) and I don’t think Zac was doing too much on him; he had a nice, healthy blow,” Hayes told the South China Morning Post.
“We just let him relax in the first part of the trial, practicing for 1400m in a couple of weeks. I like the way he responded, he just took a sit, easy, and then Zac strode up and he won as you’d expect.”
After suffering narrow defeats to Wunderbar at his second and third starts, Ka Ying Rising’s winning streak dates back to February 2024 as he rapidly rose through the grades before landing his first Group 1 at the end of that year.