Hong Kong Sprint Star Skips Everest Defense to Challenge British Rivals

Ka Ying Rising, the world's best sprinter who won The Everest and has been named Timeform's Horse of the Year, will bypass the defense of his Australian crown to instead take on British rivals on their home turf, trainer David Hayes confirmed after a series of impressive Sha Tin barrier trials. The announcement is being hailed as one of the most significant international moves in global sprinting.

The decision represents a sharp departure from the plan Hayes had publicly outlined after Ka Ying Rising's record 18th consecutive win in February. Hayes had spoken of running the six-year-old in the Group 2 Sprint Cup at Sha Tin on April 6, then the Chairman's Sprint Prize on April 26, "and hopefully get another clean sweep of the season again with The Everest in the middle." Instead, the world's benchmark sprinter is heading west.

The Everest, the race Ka Ying Rising conquered in 2025, is worth A$20 million and was carefully constructed around the Hong Kong star. Per the terms negotiated between the Australian Turf Club and the Hong Kong Jockey Club, if Ka Ying Rising is not available for the 2026 running, the ATC can offer the slot to a Sydney or Melbourne-based horse on the proviso it is then campaigned at Sha Tin later in the year for the Hong Kong Sprint.

The scale of what Ka Ying Rising is leaving behind makes the British pivot all the more striking. Unbeaten since February 2024, Ka Ying Rising's streak includes eight Group 1 victories: two Hong Kong Sprint titles, two Centenary Sprint Cups, The Everest, the Chairman's Sprint Prize, and two Queen's Silver Jubilee Cups. He broke Silent Witness's longstanding Hong Kong record of 17 straight wins on February 22, doing so in course-record time in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup.

His Everest victory at Royal Randwick in October 2025 came under Zac Purton, who advanced without hesitation in the stretch to win by 2¾ lengths, finishing the 1,200 metres in 1:07.33 while effectively geared down. Ka Ying Rising was the first overseas runner ever to win The Everest.

The Sha Tin trials that preceded this announcement fit a familiar pattern for Ka Ying Rising. In January 2026, he cruised over 1200m on Sha Tin's dirt course under Purton, clocking 1:10.36, as part of a preparation that had Hayes describing him as "better than ever." The trials this week, by all accounts, produced similar confidence.

Purton had previously described the prospect of running at Royal Ascot as "hopeless" due to British prize-money levels, calling it not worth the journey. A British Champions Day sprint at Ascot in October, however, sits squarely in the window previously reserved for The Everest, and offers the kind of historical billing that reframes the financial calculus entirely. For Hayes, who bred Ka Ying Rising from a New Zealand background and built him into the world's top-rated sprinter at 138, the move signals that the ambition around this horse has no ceiling.