New Zealand-bred ShamExpress gelding Ka Ying Rising surpassed the longstanding record of Hong Kong luminary Silent Witness on Sunday at Sha Tin and did so in record time.

Trainer David Hayes believes Ka Ying Rising’s extraordinary dominance can continue indefinitely after the world’s premier sprinter demolished quality opposition to post a Hong Kong record 18th successive victory in course record time at Sha Tin in the HK$13-million (US$1,663,363) Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) on Sunday.

Stretching his unbeaten sequence beyond Silent Witness’ longstanding mark of 17 wins, slotted between 2002 and 2005, Ka Ying Rising imperiously steamrolled his opposition going 1,400 meters (about seven furlongs) in 1:19.36 to smash the previous course record of 1:19.92.

Jockey Zac Purton confirmed Hayes had told him pre-race “to break the track record” after he had ridden Ka Ying Rising hands-and-heels to the finish, 3 1/2 lengths clear of Helios Express with Lucky Sweynesse 1 1/4 lengths back in third.

Improving his overall record to 19 wins from 21 starts – after two narrow seconds as a 3-year-old – Ka Ying Rising jumped quickly from barrier three to sit second behind Copartner Prance and clocked :21.93 from the 1,200 meters to the 800 meter-mark before putting his rivals to the sword over the final 800 meters in a blistering :43.96, with respective 200-meter splits of :11.26, :11.07, :10.52and :11.11 to create history.

Unbeaten since February 2024, Ka Ying Rising’s contiguous winning streak includes eight Group 1s – two LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint victories (2024-2025), two Centenary Sprint Cup titles (2025-2026), The Everest (2025), the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (2025), and now a pair of Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup trophies (2025-2026).

Silent Witness reigned from December 2002 to April 2005, snaring seven top-level features – the Hong Kong Sprint in 2003-2004, two Centenary Sprint Cups (2004-2005), two Chairman’s Sprint Prize triumphs (2004-2005), and the 2005 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup. 

The stunning nature of Ka Ying Rising’s latest victory prompted Hayes to declare that the 5-year-old New Zealand-bred Shamexpress gelding could sustain his current level of excellence for the next 18 months, fitness permitting.

“If we can place him conservatively, we hope to have him for another couple of seasons, that’s really exciting,” Hayes said. “He loves a month between runs, so we’ll probably go for the (G2) Sprint Cup (1,200 meters) next (April 6) and then we don’t have to train him too hard and babysit him into the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200 meters, April 26).

“Hopefully we can get another clean sweep of the season again with The Everest in the middle.

“He’s more composed than ever, he’s changing legs and you can’t ask for much more than he’s doing. He’s breaking track records and his last three runs, he’d have broken the track record if Zac had let him go.

“He jumped so well (Sunday) and cruised through the bend beautifully – at the 300 meters, I could really enjoy it. I could tell he had the race in command. Zac went for him a bit more than he normally does and rode to instructions, which was good.

“I’ve trained a lot of horses that have gone 742 days without winning, so to continuously win for 742 days is mind-numbing. It’s 2 1/2 years and the thing people don’t realize is that he was the (equal) youngest horse in the race today. They always think he’s the big boy bashing them up, but he’s actually the baby.

“It’s a huge relief. I didn’t think the team could have had him better for today and I was confident that if the track was riding fast, he could break the (track) record. I didn’t want Zac sitting up in the last 100 meters, I said to him ‘let him run through the post and we’ll see how strong he is at 1400 meters’. He’s just a star. 

“I just thought for his worldwide ratings, I wanted Zac to let him go today and hopefully he can keep climbing up that incredible ladder that he’s going up. When you’ve got a horse as good as him, he’s the one everyone will be comparing the next big horse too.”

Purton notched his fifth victory in the race following wins on Ambitious Dragon (2013) and Beauty Generation (2018, 2019, and 2020) and believes Ka Ying Rising has reached his peak.

“I think he’s reached his level and it’s just a matter of managing him now and try to preserve that for as long as we can,” Purton said. “He’s the horse of a lifetime. I just shake my head every time with the performances he puts up and the ease with which he does.

“I’ve just got to pinch myself, I’m so lucky.  He’s just different – he’s in a league of his own. They’re very good horses that he’s racing against, and he just does it like he’s having a barrier trial and let’s hope he can stay in this form for another 12 or 18 months.

“It was pretty straightforward. He jumped well, he was in a lovely rhythm behind Copartner Prance. Patch Of Theta went to move around me about the 1,200 meters and I just made sure I was going to give my horse plenty of room. And then he just did his job – he did what he does.

“To be etched in history now forever is part of my legacy, part of David’s and a part of Ka Ying Rising, and hopefully he can continue on doing what he’s doing. We’re all enjoying being associated with him and I think everyone is enjoying watching him being successful as well.

“The horse deserves all the credit. He’s the one with the ability and he continues to step out, race after race, and blow good quality horses away and it’s very unique to see that.”

Currently the world’s highest rated sprinter and second-highest rated horse in the world overall, Ka Ying Rising also holds Sha Tin’s 1,200-meter turf course record (1:07.20).