A “bigger, stronger, better” Ka Ying Rising toyed with his rivals at Sha Tin on Sunday, romping to his 15th consecutive success with victory in the Group Two BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m).
Sent off $1.05 for his first run since muscling his way to victory in the Group One The Everest (1,200m), Ka Ying Rising stopped the clock in 1:07.33 – the second fastest Sha Tin 1,200m time ever and not far outside his track record of 1:07.20.
“To the eye, I thought it was probably one of his best wins,” said Hayes.
“That was as easy as I’ve seen him do it – maybe in this race last year but I thought it was probably better than this one last year when he did the kiss cam.
“He raced at the heaviest Hong Kong weight he’s ever been today, which suggests he’s getting bigger, stronger, better.”
While Ka Ying Rising’s next target will be defending his crown in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m), Hayes already has one eye on next year’s The Everest and is adamant last month’s trip to Australia has only made his superstar better.
“I really believe that. There’s been a lot of globetrotting horses that have travelled and it has been the making of them. Some it destroys but it hasn’t this horse,” he said.
“It’s just a dream come true to have a horse like this and I really want to thank my team that travelled him overseas and didn’t miss a beat with him and brought him back in better condition than he left.
“He’ll be set for The Everest now again and of course we’ve got the big international race in three weeks which is his short-term grand final, so it’s all very exciting.
“He won’t need a trial three weeks between runs – that was his trial today. We’ll just build him gradually into the race with a course-proper gallop and then he’ll go to Conghua after the international race.”
Fastest away from the outside gate of 10, Ka Ying Rising led early before taking a sit off Beauty Waves through the middle stages and then putting the race to bed in a matter of strides upon straightening.
“Mid-race, Beauty Waves was probably just half a step too slow. I know we’ve run nearly a track-record time, but [Ka Ying Rising] was on his tippy toes behind him wanting to go quicker. That’s the beauty with this horse, the faster they go, the better he is,” said Purton, who also saluted aboard Invincible Ibis on Sunday.
“I got to the stage where I had to let him roll into it because otherwise it was going to be detrimental to him.
“I think he was better today than he was in The Everest, for sure. At trackwork he showed us that. He’s been jumping out of his skin and he certainly owns the place now and he knows that.
“He just looks better all the time. He’s mentally getting better. It’s hard to say that he’s improving or that he’s going to get better but he’s certainly enjoying what he’s doing and handling it really well.
“It was good to see him win like that today without having to go to the bottom of him. It’s a nice confidence-boosting win as he comes back.”
Fast Network ran a promising second, two and three-quarter lengths off Ka Ying Rising, and Helios Express was third.
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