World's top-rated horse Ka Ying Rising seeks a 19th straight victory on the Easter Monday holiday card April 6 at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong, sharing top billing with another of the local superstars, Voyage Bubble.
On paper Ka Ying Rising, a 5-year-old gelding, looks invincible against six rivals in the Sprint Cup (G2), a race calculated to keep his engine ticking before his next top-level assignment, the Chairman's Sprint Prize (G1) on Champions Day, April 26. Voyage Bubble has a bit more competition in the Chairman's Trophy (G2) at 1,600 meters (about 1 mile), a prep for the Champions Mile (G1).
Regular rider Zac Purton took Ka Ying Rising out for a gallop on the Sha Tin dirt oval March 30, shortly after he was posted atop the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings, and said he sees no issues with the superstar sprinter.
"I can't see why he can't continue to keep doing what he's doing," Purton said. "I just take every race as it comes and for him, it's all the same, right? Hopefully, he handles himself on race day, gets out of the gates clean and gets himself into the right spot. If those things happen, then he does the rest."
Ka Ying Rising bettered the record of consecutive wins by a Hong Kong-trained horse, previously held by Silent Witness, in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (G1) Feb. 22. The winning streak includes eight group 1 events, including The Everest (G1) in Australia, billed as the world's richest turf race. A repeat try in that sprint is on trainer David Hayes' agenda for the 2026-27 season, too.
Voyage Bubble, last season's Hong Kong Triple Crown winner, won't have to face old nemesis Romantic Warrior in the Trophy as that one is resting before trying for a record fourth victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) April 26. But he will face some others pointing to that big event, including former Hong Kong champion sprinter Lucky Sweynesse.
Lucky Sweynesse returned last season from a serious injury to resume his place as a player in the sprint and mile ranks and, if anything, has improved at age 7. He finished third when Ka Ying Rising won the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup and second in the Stewards' Cup (G1) Jan. 25, behind only Romantic Warrior and well clear of Voyage Bubble in third.
Romantic Warrior holds down the second spot in the global rankings, and Lucky Sweynesse is rated a joint 11th. All going to form, Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior, and Voyage Bubble would be a price-prohibitive parlay on that program, calculated to draw international competition.
Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges refers to the three as "Hong Kong's three equine heavenly kings"—a good thing unless they scare off the global competition the HKJC needs to maintain its race-grade status.
