24 March 2026
Ka Ying Rising trials ahead of Sprint Cup
Everything went as expected on Tuesday morning for Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) as the eight-time Group One winner cruised through a barrier trial in preparation for 6 April’s HK$5.35 million Gr.2 Sprint Cup (1200m), where he’ll attempt to secure a record-extending 19th consecutive win.
Trained by David Hayes, Ka Ying Rising clocked a trial-best 57.62s (1000m) in the eight-runner first heat down Sha Tin’s turf straight – a neck in front of Beauty Waves – under championship-leading rider Zac Purton, who confirmed the sprinter’s wellbeing.
Purton said: “He’s going really well. It’s good to be back on him. It was a nice little hit-out for him – he’ll run again in a few weeks, getting ready for (FWD) Champions Day.”
Beauty Waves found the early lead before Ka Ying Rising swept effortlessly past him from fourth position. Successful in his past 18 races in Hong Kong and Australia, Ka Ying Rising is currently the world’s top-rated horse after the March edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings was released.
After the Sprint Cup, Ka Ying Rising will go for a second HK$24 million Gr.1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) win on FWD Champions Day (26 April), which serves as the final leg of the HK$5 million Hong Kong Speed Series, comprising the HK$13 million Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) and HK$13 million Gr.1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m).
Hayes said: “He was nice and relaxed. There were a couple of horses who put a bit of pressure on, but he stretched and got to them very easily – he won as you’d expect.
“I wanted to trial him down the straight because you never know; he might go down the straight somewhere. It’s a good experience for him, and he’s going back from 1400 to 1200 (metres), so he didn’t need a hard trial, hence why I put him over 1000.”
Ka Ying Rising – who last trialled over 1000m on turf at Sha Tin last August prior to today – earned the Hong Kong Speed Series HK$5 million bonus last season, joining Mr Vitality (1995/96), Grand Delight (2002/03), Silent Witness (2003/04 & 2004/05) and Lucky Sweynesse (2022/23) as past recipients. His 18 successive wins is a record for a Hong Kong-trained horse having surpassed the previous mark set by Silent Witness (17).
Beauty Waves is also entered for Easter Monday’s Sprint Cup, a fixture that hosts the HK$5.35 million Gr.2 Chairman’s Trophy (1600m), which is where Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse) heads after trialling in 1m 36.81s over 1600m on turf under Derek Leung.
“He was good – he jumped nicely, and he knows what to do. It went smoothly – he was comfortable, and he came back well. He was just second to Romantic Warrior (in the Stewards’ Cup, Gr.1, 1600m), but he should be ready after this trial for the Group Two and then the Group One (FWD Champions Mile, 1600m),” Leung said. - Hong Kong Jockey Club
Yulong add another Kiwi star as Ohope Wins prepares for Vinery
The curtain has been drawn on the racing career of multiple Group One winner Grail Seeker (NZ) (Iffraaj), with the daughter of Iffraaj to join the broodmare band at Yulong following her private sale.
The Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained mare was crowned New Zealand’s Champion Sprinter/Miler in season 2024-25 following victories in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) and Gr.1 Tarzino Trophy (1400m).
The lightly raced five-year-old won four of her 16 starts and boasts a victory in the Gr.2 Wellington Guineas (1400m) in addition to being four-times stakes placed, signing off with a third placing in the Gr.1 Telegraph (1200m) in January.
A granddaughter of Group One winner Stella Cadente, Grail Seeker has likely run her last race.
“We will probably send her to stud I would think,” Yulong’s Chief Operating Officer Sam Fairgray said.
“She is a good looking mare and a fast Group One winning mare. If she leaves foals like herself, they will be very popular at yearling sales.”
Meanwhile, Fairgray is looking forward to seeing the Yulong-owned Ohope Wins (NZ) (Ocean Park) race for the first time on Australian soil when she steps out in the Gr.1 Vinery Stud Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
The last start Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner transferred from the O’Sullivan-Scott stable to Chris Waller and finished sixth in a trial over 1050m at Randwick last week.
“She trialed very well, seems happy and has settled in well,” Fairgray said. “James McDonald was very complimentary of her after the trial and will take the ride this weekend.
“Chris has been happy with her. She is very relaxed around the stables, and he is very positive about the weekend.”
While the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) winner will continue her preparation, ownership mate Autumn Glory (NZ) (Ocean Park) will likely head to the spelling paddock.
Winner of the Gr.2 Waikato Guineas (2000m) and runner-up in both the New Zealand Oaks and Derby, Autumn Glory will join the stable of Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
“Autumn Glory has arrived in Australia,” Fairgray said. “She will head out and have a break and we will get her ready for the spring.
“She had done a lot in this preparation. She ran in the Oaks and the Derby and we just felt it best to give her some time out now while it is still warm and let her furnish further and she is a filly that is going to be progressive in the spring.”
Yulong also share in the ownership of the Stephen Marsh-trained Well Written (Written Tycoon), who narrowly won the $4 million NZB Kiwi (1500m) at Ellerslie earlier this month with the unbeaten filly now enjoying a well-deserved break.
“She has still got so much upside as she is not the complete professional racehorse just yet,” Fairgray said.
“She is having a little break in New Zealand and Stephen Marsh will get her back in and plot a plan through the spring.”
The A$10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick on October 31 shapes as the logical target for rising four-year-old.
“I think it has got to be a target for her for the spring,” Fairgray said. “When it is restricted to age group and worth that sort of money, you have got to be headed that way.”
The Chris Wood-trained That’s Gold (Lucky Vega), who sported the Yulong bottle green and white for the first time when a gallant sixth in the New Zealand Derby is likely to continue his racing career in Hong Kong.
The gelded son of Lucky Vega ran out a ready winner of the Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and looks ideally suited to next season’s four-year-old series.
“Things can change, but Hong Kong is the likely plan for him at this stage,” Fairgray said. - NZ Racing Desk
Dennis Ryan
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