Ka Ying Rising Hits 135, Highest Ever for a Sprinter
Record Falls Again at Sha Tin
Ka Ying Rising has been rated 135 in the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings, the highest mark ever given to a sprinter, after a course-record victory in the Gr.3 HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup Handicap over 1200 metres at Sha Tin. The rise takes the gelding four points clear of Ombudsman on the interim list released on Thursday, 10 September 2026.
The Gr.3 HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup Handicap was run over 1200m at Sha Tin on Sunday, 6 September 2026, where Ka Ying Rising, a 6YO gelding trained by David Hayes and ridden by Zac Purton, won by seven and three-quarter lengths in a time of 1m 06.11s carrying top weight of 135lb. The run extended his unbeaten sequence to 21 starts and marked his sixth course record at the track, his fifth over 1200m turf there.
The new rating overtakes the previous highest sprinter mark of 132, set by the Australian mare Black Caviar after her win in the 2011 Gr.1 Newmarket Handicap over 1200m. Black Caviar retired unbeaten from 25 starts, including 15 wins at Group One level, trained by Peter Moody.
Ka Ying Rising's climb has been steady rather than sudden. He ended 2025 rated 128, moved to 130 in May 2026, to 131 in July 2026, and now stands at 135 following the Chief Executive's Cup. Each step has come alongside a lowering of his own course record, a pattern that has defined his rise through the ratings and underlined the consistency of his form across the season.
The gelding first broke Sacred Kingdom's long-standing 1200m Sha Tin record of 1m 07.50s, a mark that had stood for 17 years, when he clocked 1m 07.43s in the 2024 Gr.2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint over 1200m. He then lowered it to 1m 07.20s in the 2025 Gr.1 Centenary Sprint Cup over 1200m, before further reductions to 1m 07.12s in the 2026 Gr.2 Sprint Cup over 1200m and 1m 07.10s in the 2026 Gr.1 Chairman's Sprint Prize over 1200m.
Sunday's 1m 06.11s beat that mark by almost a full second. Ka Ying Rising also holds the course record over 1400m at Sha Tin, clocked at 1m 19.36s in the 2026 Gr.1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup, giving him standing course marks at both his core sprint distances, a rare feat for a single sprinter to hold at one track.
Ka Ying Rising Nears Everest Defence
The new figure places Ka Ying Rising level with Baaeed, Harbinger and Japan's Equinox, and puts him joint-fourth on the all-time LWBRR list behind Frankel, who reached 136 and 140 in 2011 and 2012, Flightline on 140, and Sea The Stars on 136. Ombudsman, a four-time Group One winner trained by John and Thady Gosden for Godolphin, sits second on 131.
Recently retired 3YO Bow Echo ranks next on 127, with Hong Kong's own Romantic Warrior — a 15-time Group One winner — sharing 126 with French-trained 4YO Daryz and Item, winner of the Gr.1 International Stakes over 2051m. Ombudsman's own 2026 form included a second consecutive Prince of Wales's Stakes victory at Royal Ascot, the first horse to achieve the feat in more than 30 years.
David Hayes, who trains Ka Ying Rising, has placed him above every other horse to pass through his hands. "I've had 107 Group 1 winners but I haven't had one like him," Hayes said. "He's in real rarefied air."
Sydney Return on the Horizon
A New Zealand-bred gelding by Shamexpress out of Missy Moo, Ka Ying Rising began his career across the Tasman before being sold following a jumpout and moving into Hayes's Sha Tin stable. He has since become a nine-time Group One winner with 22 victories from 24 starts and two seconds, career earnings standing at HK$140,131,900 (US$17,871,161).
His 21-race unbeaten run is a Hong Kong record, surpassing the 17 consecutive wins set by Silent Witness. Hayes has drawn his own comparison to the yard's earlier stars, saying, "Better Loosen Up was the last world champion horse I've trained, and this one is the next one."
Ka Ying Rising has entered quarantine at Sha Tin ahead of a trip to Sydney later in August 2026, where he defends his Gr.1 The Everest crown over 1200m at Royal Randwick on 17 October 2026 — the world's richest turf race. He became the first overseas horse to win the event when he took the 2025 running at the same course.