The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges has hailed the 2025/26 season-opening meeting at Sha Tin on Sunday (7 September) as “the perfect start of the season” with the victory of Ka Ying Rising in the HK$3.72 million Class 1 HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup Handicap (1200m).

Praising the efforts of the Club’s track staff despite the meeting being staged in challenging weather with rain and strong winds under a T3 Signal, Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the on-course atmosphere and world-class racing were highlights at the meeting attended by The Honourable John KC LEE, GBM, SBS, PDSM, PMSM, The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

“Today was a celebration of an outstanding talent – it is amazing what Ka Ying Rising does. Having this as the first race meeting, I thought it was the perfect start of the season,” Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“The excitement we had having the world’s best sprinter running was definitely the sporting highlight of the day and he is creating even more excitement for Hong Kong.”

Ka Ying Rising was only fractionally outside his own Sha Tin 1200m record with a winning time of 1m 07.63s and reflected the hard work of The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s track team to present a safe, world-class surface.

“When you see how much rain our tracks could cope with, I’m proud of the tracks team because despite all the rain, the races were run in perfect condition,” Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said.

“Sometimes we need a bit of luck but we were prepared for all the contingencies when the T3 Signal went up and when considering how the races went, it was a really good start.

With attendance of 43,259 despite adverse weather, Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said the Opening Ceremony performance of singer MC Cheung and new on-course attractions had created a positive vibe as turnover reached HK$1.399 billion (including two simulcast races).

Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges was also delighted with the performances of Hong Kong, China horses Self Improvement and Chancheng Glory in Seoul, South Korea with Jerry Chau riding Self Improvement to victory in the G3 Korea Sprint (1200m, sand) for trainer Manfred Man and finishing a narrow second on Chancheng Glory in the G3 Korea Cup (1800m, sand) for trainer Francis Lui.

“The performances of the Hong Kong horses were outstanding and it was terrific how Jerry Chau rode. We have invested heavily in local talent and it is wonderful to see they can not only hold their own against some of the best jockeys in the world,” he said.

“One really has to admire Zac Purton for his riding skills and performance today with five wins at Sha Tin but we have really developed local talent and how Jerry rode today in a different environment is full credit to him and to the trainers.”

Hong Kong racing continues on Wednesday night (10 September) with Happy Valley’s season-opening meeting.