As is becoming customary in the build-up to sprint superstar Ka Ying Rising’s races, trainer David Hayes declared himself delighted with a routinely impressive showing in a Sha Tin barrier trial on Tuesday morning (10 February).

As the meteoric five-year-old prepares to tackle 1400 metres for only the second time in his bid to make history with an 18th consecutive win in the HK$13 million G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup on 22 February, Hayes said he wanted to see him able to “switch off” in the early stages. It was mission accomplished as the son of Shamexpress effortlessly stopped the clock in 1m 08.03s – his fastest 1200m trial time to date.

“He broke one [minute], eight [seconds], and I don’t think Zac (Purton) was doing too much on him. He had a nice healthy blow,” Hayes said.

“We just let him relax in the first part of the trial, practising for 1400 (metres) in a couple of weeks. And, gee, I like the way he responded. He just took a sit, easy, and then Zac strode up, and he won, as you’d expect,” Hayes added.

After breaking smoothly and travelling second in the early stages, where he posted 400m and 800m splits of 24.0s and 22.0s respectively, the world’s top-rated sprinter eased into the lead off the home turn and comfortably pulled clear of the field, showcasing his incredible turn of foot and clocking 22.0s for the final 400m.

“Just the same as usual,” quipped champion jockey Purton after climbing down from the seven-time Group 1-winner, who currently equals the great Silent Witness on 17 successive victories, the most by a Hong Kong-trained horse.

Ka Ying Rising has attempted 1400m only once before in his 20 starts – when he won last season’s Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup under Karis Teetan. Ten horses were entered for this season’s renewal, including Lucky Sweynesse, Helios Express, Galaxy Patch and Red Lion.

The New Zealand-bred gelding, raced by the Ka Ying Syndicate, is expected to bid for a second win in the world’s richest turf race in Sydney, Australia, the G1 The Everest (1200m) at Royal Randwick in October, in an effort to extend his reign as the world’s leading sprinter.

He has claimed more than HK$129.85 million in career prize money to date.