Racing fans around the world might think it's a strange idea when they read that champion galloper Ka Ying Rising might have a race later this year at a non-betting, exhibition meeting in China. While the superstar prepares for his final appearance of the current campaign, looking to make it 20 wins in succession in the Chairman's Sprint Prize at the Champions Day meeting on April 26, other plans are afoot that could offer a new stage to a horse who, to date, has only ever ru

Twelve months ago, I called it an unusual HK Derby, with no standouts, after a "campaign towards the race with plenty of stumbles along the way for the lead contenders." Well, that was borne out subsequently by the win of Cap Ferrat, a horse who had never a won a race, anywhere, beforehand and came off a ninth placing in his lead-up run. Not since Holy Grail finished 11th over 1000m before the 1999 Derby victory 17 days later had a winner come off a worse result to score. Cap

The date was October 4, 2015, and Typhoon Mujigae was blowing through the South China Sea with enough ferocity to be diverting air traffic away from Hong Kong. One of the planes which went north east towards Taiwan instead was a flight from Sydney carrying superstar jockeys Zac Purton and Joao Moreira back from Group One rides at Royal Randwick the previous day. The powerful typhoon had made it unsafe to land in Hong Kong and now the Hong Kong Jockey Club's two biggest drawca

The HK trainers championship is moving into phase two on New Year's Day when the contenders start to separate from the pretenders. Much has been discussed about whether a trainer with title aspirations even wants to be in front this early in the season but, like many contests, history shows a lead to be a plus on balance. As 2026 opens, Caspar Fownes will lead by one win over Mark Newnham with one more win back to Danny Shum and a further three to David Hayes. Then there's a

This is where we are now with Ka Ying Rising - exactly a year from the kiss cam and finger pointing celebrations of his first G2 victory in the 2024 edition, Sunday's smash carried nothing but an air of inevitability, before, during and after. He's in man bites dog territory, where only defeat would now be a story of any note. He's also in Silent Witness territory, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club was required to top up the win betting pool to the tune of $HK 215,524.45 so that

Sunday's Jockey Club race meeting was born of the local selection process for Longines Hong Kong International Race (HKIR) meeting after the turn of the century, but in 2025 it isn't totally overstating things to suggest this looks more like a fork in the road for some of the biggest Hong Kong names as they prepare for the actual main event in three weeks. Until 2002, Hong Kong's selection of international runners was patchy and, at times, a little controversial. The Hong Kon

Life moves quickly when it's feature race time and Ka Ying Rising's win in The Everest at Royal Randwick seems a long while ago, even though it isn't yet two weeks. Within days of his momentous victory, the world's best sprinter was back out of the spotlight, away from the gawking eyes and probing questions of a voracious social media, and slipping quietly back into Sha Tin. David Hayes- star has already had his first morning on the track since his return, wit the aim to read

IT isn't often that I introduce my dreams into an article but these are different times and the show around Ka Ying Rising tackling The...

Regular Hong Kong racing were somewhat surprised by the announcement of four new jockeys for the mid-season months last Wednesday,...

Pictures of winning jockey Brenton Avdulla all but dancing in the rain after a victory at Sha Tin on Sunday left many racing fans around...

Ka Ying Rising canters at home in Saturday's trial As is usual, there have been oversized positive responses to the barrier trials of...

When John Size was coming off a seventh placing in the previous championship at this time in 2024, we called him an even money chance to...

If we had done this a year ago, our top-rated runners, just turned four years old, were The Winnabe, Ka Ying Rising, and Wunderbar. They remind us how much can change in a year. Everyone knows how Ka Ying Rising turned out. Wunderbar, the only horse to conquer the champion sprinter, suffered an injury that sidelined him for months and slowed him down. The Winnabe faced an even tougher fate, as an injury kept him out of racing for an entire year. He was finally retired late la

With eight championships now banked and Zac Purton sitting second to only 13-time champion Douglas Whyte in collecting titles, the...

It really hit home when my fellow diner across the table took a swig of sauvignon blanc and said: “All right then, what’s your market on...

Zac Purton returns with Massive Sovereign after the 2024 Derby It's an unusual Derby. There are no standouts, just promises to stand out....

The headline result from Friday's Chinese New Year meeting was the breakthrough feature wins of My Wish for sophomore trainer Mark...

While Ka Ying Rising is rightly the headline act, even Hong Kong's current sprinters away from the David Hayes-trained superstar are a...

Eighteen months ago, the talk in the world of turf sprinting was all around Hong Kong's Lucky Sweynesse and whether he should be aimed at...

At the height of their rivalry as jockeys, Zac and Purton and Douglas Whyte took to trash talking and finger pointing at each other in...