Ka Ying Rising extends streak to 20, dominates Chairman’s Sprint Prize

Ka Ying Rising turned Sha Tin’s FWD Champions Day into a speed show, running away with the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize and extending his unbeaten streak to 20 consecutive victories. Under Zac Purton, the David Hayes-trained star stopped the clock in 1m 07.10s, a time that broke his own Sha Tin 1200m turf record and confirmed that Hong Kong is watching a sprinter operating on a different level.

The HK$24 million prize came with more than money. The win sealed the Hong Kong Speed Series and triggered a HK$5 million bonus for connections after Ka Ying Rising swept all three legs of the series. It also marked the horse’s second straight Sha Tin track record, following his 1m 07.12s effort in his previous Group 1 success, a rapid stretch that has turned every appearance into a national event and a global talking point.

Hayes did not hide the scale of what he is training. He called Ka Ying Rising “one of the best horses I’ve ever seen” and “one of the all-time greats,” a judgment that now carries even more weight after a 20th straight win in a race that drew the strongest sprinting spotlight in the Hong Kong calendar. Purton, who has been the steady hand in the saddle, rode a horse that once again looked like it was accelerating away from the division rather than simply winning within it.

Champions Day itself underscored how central Hong Kong remains to the international racing business. The meeting carried a record HK$78 million across its three Group 1 races, the HK$30 million FWD QEII Cup, the HK$24 million FWD Champions Mile and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, while 13 overseas raiders came to Sha Tin to take on the local stars. That level of money and international traffic is part of what makes Ka Ying Rising more than a Sha Tin hero. He is now the face of a meeting that sells Hong Kong speed to the world.

What makes the streak resonate beyond the numbers is its rarity. Elite sprinters usually burn brightest in shorter bursts, but Ka Ying Rising has turned consistency into spectacle, stretching perfection across 20 starts and resetting the benchmark each time. For Hong Kong racing, that is not just a champion. It is a phenomenon.