Purton lauds Ka Ying Rising as an all-time great
Champion jockey Zac Purton believes New Zealand-bred superstar Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress) is closing in on the exalted company of Frankel (Galileo), Secretariat (Bold Ruler), Winx (Street Cry) and Black Caviar (Bel Esprit) after another extraordinary performance at Sha Tin on Sunday.
The David Hayes-trained sprinter extended his winning sequence to 21 when demolishing his rivals in the Gr.3 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup (1200m), carrying 135lb and stopping the clock at 1:06.11.
Ka Ying Rising lowered his own Sha Tin 1200m track record by almost a second as he powered clear to win by seven and three-quarter lengths, providing the perfect launching pad towards his defence of The Everest (1200m) at Randwick next month.
Purton doubts the six-year-old could smash the clock by much further but scarily believes there is improvement to come.
“I'd be foolish to think he is going to run any faster than that, but from a fitness perspective, it was his first run for the season,” Purton said.
“I'd like to think from a fitness point of view he's going to improve, but is he going to run any faster? I don't know, can he?
“I did ease him down a little bit again. Maybe he'll run 1:05 one day.
“But yesterday's track was lightning fast. They were running fast times all day. It was firm, it was the way he liked it and I just let him do his thing.”
Purton was keen for Ka Ying Rising to have a more searching first-up assignment than 12 months ago, when the gelding subsequently travelled to Sydney and won The Everest despite his rider believing he was short of his peak.
“We didn't see him at his best down there last year, so we feel like we still have a little bit of a point to prove,” Purton said.
“We wanted to make sure he did a little bit more in this run this year because when he got down to Sydney for the trial last year and in quarantine, he cheated a little bit on us and got away from us a little bit.
“So we'll just screw him down a little bit more this time.”
Ka Ying Rising has now won 22 of his 24 starts, with Purton aboard throughout his remarkable sequence of 21 consecutive victories.
The multiple Hong Kong champion jockey has partnered numerous outstanding horses, headed by two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Beauty Generation, but has no hesitation placing Ka Ying Rising above them all.
“He's clearly the best horse that I've ever ridden, and he's possibly going to go down as one of those horses that gets talked about for a century, in the likes of Frankel and Secretariat, Winx and Black Caviar,” Purton said.
“Certainly, if he's not at that level, he's getting very close to that level.
“He's the type of horse that everyone sets their alarm to get out of bed to watch, or if it's during the day, they stop their day to tune in.”
Purton said Ka Ying Rising’s ability to sustain his exceptional speed sets him apart.
“He's an amazing horse to ride. He feels like he just glides across the ground and the incredible thing about him is, he just doesn't seem to get tired,” he said.
“When I ask him to quicken, he just takes off again and he can sustain that right through the line.
“I've never ridden another horse that's able to do what he does. Even Beauty Generation, when I was riding him and he used to get out in front and run them into the ground, he would still get tired in the last furlong.
“This guy, he doesn't seem to get tired.”
While Hayes has floated the possibility of testing Ka Ying Rising over a mile, Purton is adamant his future should remain in the sprinting ranks.
“Maybe he's got the stamina to run a mile, but I don't ever want to run him at a mile,” he said.
“In my opinion, we'll just keep him to the sprints and that way we're not going to bottom him out and we can hopefully get a little bit longer out of him.”
Bred in New Zealand by Fraser and Erin Auret's Grandmoral Lodge, Ka Ying Rising is by Shamexpress out of the Per Incanto mare Missy Moo.
