Zac Purton was blowing kisses to the camera as Ka Ying Rising blew up the clock on his way to the quickest 1,200m victory in Sha Tin history on Sunday afternoon.
In the same race Sacred Kingdom set his long-standing track record of 1:07.50 in 2007, $1.15 favourite Ka Ying Rising hit the line in 1:07.43 despite being eased down late in his Group Two BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m) demolition job.
“I knew it was a track record, so I thought I would seal it with a kiss,” said Purton, who declared after Ka Ying Rising’s recent Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) romp that eventually breaking the record was a mere formality.
“It’s getting scary how good he’s becoming and how easily he’s doing it. It’s a nice top-up run for the big one next month.
“He’s certainly come a long way in a short period of time. I was on Aethero, who ran as favourite in the Hong Kong Sprint as a three-year-old but unfortunately had some health problems.
“This guy is the only other horse that I’ve been on who’s improved as rapidly as that. He’s just perfect to ride. He’s got great gate speed, he relaxes beautifully mid-race and he’s got a great turn of foot – it’s everything you need in a sprinter.”
Asked to work a little early to take up a prominent position from gate 10, the David Hayes-trained Ka Ying Rising took a sit behind lead pair Victor The Winner and Copartner Prance.
On a day when every race was run inside standard time, Purton eased Ka Ying Rising out after straightening and urged him into top gear from the 300m, with the horse many believe is already the world’s best sprinter putting the race to bed in the blink of an eye.
“He’s broken the track record and Zac was waving to the camera with 100m to go,” said Hayes after Ka Ying Rising finished three-and-a-quarter lengths clear of John Size-trained placegetters Howdeepisyourlove and Helios Express.
“It’s a course record held by a superstar. You’ve got to be pretty good to get the course record at Sha Tin when you see all these wonderful, promising horses racing on fast ground. To have your horse in the book is a bit of a thrill.
“What I loved about it was [that after] he forced the issue early, the way he come back under him to sit third. From a trainer’s point of view, that is really something to look forward to – to have a horse that relaxes in the run.”
January’s four-year-old series opener, the Classic Mile, and eventually next October’s The Everest (1,200m) in Sydney loom for Ka Ying Rising, but first comes the brilliant speedster’s maiden elite-level test in next month’s Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m).
“All he really has to do now is hold his form and I can’t see any reason he won’t. We’ve got 21 more sleeps before the big Group One in three weeks, so we’re really looking forward to it,” said Hayes.
“He’ll stay in Hong Kong for the next three weeks. He’s been a regular up at Conghua, he’s loved those facilities, but that was five, six weeks between runs.
“Now we’ll just keep him here and he’ll have a gallop on the course proper as his final gallop probably 10 days out. Then we’ll just taper into the race as we always do.
“I think he’s the horse [the international raiders] have to beat. I’m not sure what is coming at the moment but they will have a big job to beat him.”
Purton, who won the Jockey Club Sprint for the third year in a row after consecutive victories aboard Lucky Sweynesse, finished the day with a treble thanks to earlier victories aboard Super Love Dragon and Fast Network.
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