Ka Ying Rising will headline FWD Champions Day alongside Romantic Warrior as the two highest-rated horses in the world seek records and glory against a strong international contingent at Hong Kong’s spring flagship meeting on Sunday, 26 April.

Competing for a record HK$78 million in prizemoney across the HK$30 million G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m), HK$24 million G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and HK$24 million G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), FWD Champions Day’s top-level features include 13 individual Group 1 winners among 38 selected runners (excluding reserves).

Record breaking sprinter Ka Ying Rising will chase a second Chairman’s Sprint Prize crown when he lines up searching for his 20th consecutive win, a record previously held by Silent Witness – who won 17 successive races – for a Hong Kong-trained horse.

David Hayes’ Hong Kong Horse of the Year (2024/25), first in the March edition of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings ahead of Romantic Warrior, can capture a second Hong Kong Speed Series bonus (HK$5 million), if he is successful again.

Sha Tin’s 1200m (1m 07.12s) and 1400m (1m 19.36s) course record holder, Ka Ying Rising, is currently on a 19-race winning streak, and faces familiar foe Satono Reve once again, who is twice placed in top-level races behind the eight-time Group 1 winner.

Noriyuki Hori has excelled at Sha Tin with six Group 1 wins at the track, and Satono Reve represents him following a last-start G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) score – his second in succession.

Last-start G1 Al Quoz Sprint (1200m) winner Native Approach heads to Sha Tin following his career-high win last month for trainer Ahmad bin Harmash, who also saddles Andreas Vesaslius in the FWD QEII Cup.

Donnacha O’Brien’s Comanche Brave travels to Sha Tin, having raced in four separate jurisdictions previously. He was third last time out in the G2 1351 Turf Sprint (1351m) behind Reef Runner and Lazzat, respectively.

Helios Express, Fast Network, Raging Blizzard, Tomodachi Kokoroe, Beauty Waves, Lucky With You and Colourful King complete the Chairman’s Sprint Prize line-up.

Photo: HKJC