Ka Ying Rising has been thrust into unknown territory after drawing barrier one for the first time in his career as he attempts to defend his HK$28 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) title at Sha Tin on Sunday (14 December).

Conceding it was not ideal to draw the inside barrier in the 13-horse field, trainer David Hayes said the world’s highest-rated sprinter simply had to jump fast and either take a sit or lead if Zac Purton is unhappy with the pace.

“So, I think Zac will be very happy,” Hayes said. “It’s more important what Zac thinks this time from the barrier because he has to do the job. I will leave it to him.

“The horse jumps fast and he puts him in a spot, and then hopefully he gets a trouble-free run. You can get blocked in from barrier one. I don’t think he will. If he jumps fast, he can have a nice easy run to the home turn.”

Hayes said the only complication that could arise is if Ka Ying Rising jumps slowly, which he has rarely done.

“That would be the only concern but lately he is so fast out of the gates in his first 100 metres he gets himself in a very comfortable position,” Hayes said.

Satono Reve, who will jump from barrier four under Ryan Moore, and Helios Express, who has Hugh Bowman aboard from barrier six, are likely to present the biggest challenges to Ka Ying Rising, who is chasing a 16th consecutive win. James McDonald’s mount, Fast Network, has drawn barrier three, while Wunderbar, the only horse to have twice finished in front of Ka Ying Rising, is in barrier two for Craig Williams.

Ka Ying Rising has drawn barrier two twice for a nose second and a victory. But Hayes, whose other runner, Tomodachi Kokoroe, drew barrier seven, expects only a couple of horses to push forward from the jump.

After already lowering the Sha Tin 1200m record twice, Zac Purton has warned not to expect Ka Ying Rising to again better his record of 1m 07.20s on Sunday.

Purton believes it will be a typical Hong Kong sprint run at a fast tempo, and said the faster, the better; but he doesn’t expect records to tumble.

“I’m not thinking it is going to be a slowly-run race, but do I think they are going to break the track records as well? No, I don’t,” Purton said.

“The winter grass has come through, it’s a bit softer and the track is a bit thicker, and no doubt they’ll put a little bit more water on the track as well. They usually do for this meeting, so I don’t think a track record is going to be seen, but as long we win the race and tick it off and move on to the next one …”

After winning the world’s richest race on turf – the AU$20 million (approx. HK$101 million) G1 The Everest (1200m) in Sydney, Australia in October – Ka Ying Rising returned to Hong Kong to win the G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on 23 November.

“He went to the races and probably put up his career-best performance last start and got in a lovely rhythm in a fast-run race. He loves fast-run races and he put them away. It was great to see and he has trained on well since, and I’m really looking forward to Sunday,” Purton said.

Purton said Ka Ying Rising’s asset was his great speed from the gate, which allowed him to put him up on the pace, and once in stride, he felt like a Rolls-Royce.

“He loves high-pressure races,” Purton said. “He doesn’t like it when they go slow. And when they do go slow, it allows a lot of those other horses to be in touch with and sprint with him. Whereas, when he is out there running along, it breaks their hearts.

“He is a unique horse in the way he can absorb pressure in such an easy way. A lot of other horses are just struggling to keep up with just that pace in the mid-stages and they can’t find anything off that and are gassed trying to keep up.”

Sunday’s (14 December) 10-race fixture at Sha Tin starts at 12.25pm with the Class 4 Fairy King Prawn Handicap (1400m).