For the first time in the history two star gallopers were crowned co-Hong Kong Champions at a special presentation held at the Grand Ballroom of the Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong tonight (Friday, 10 July).

Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior are now both two-time Hong Kong Champions, as Ka Ying Rising was crowned 2024/25 Horse of the Year and Romantic Warrior was named Horse of the Year in the 2023/24 season.

Owned by Ka Ying Syndicate and trained by David Hayes, Ka Ying Rising also returned back-to-back Champion Sprinter titles after scoring five Group One race wins this season.

His triumph in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) not only left him unbeaten with eight wins from eight starts during the term, but also took his unbeaten streak to 20 consecutive races. Prior to that he broke Silent Witness’s record of 17 consecutive Hong Kong wins set nearly 21 years ago.

The world’s premier sprinter closed the season with an incredible three track-record performances in as many races – clocking 1m 19.36s in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m), 1m 07.12s in the G2 The Sprint Cup (1200m) and 1m 07.10s in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), while claiming Hong Kong Speed Series for the second year in a row.

In addition, the sprint superstar became the first overseas-trained horse to win the world’s richest race on turf, the G1 The Everest (1200m) in Sydney, Australia. He currently carries an international rating of 131 and is the world’s top-rated sprinter.

The Danny Shum-trained Romantic Warrior also enjoyed plenty of success, winning both the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) and FWD QEII Cup (2000m) for an unprecedented fourth time. A graduate of the Hong Kong International Sale, Romantic Warrior made a remarkable comeback from fetlock surgery this term, and once again dominated the middle distance and stayer divisions, becoming only the third horse in Hong Kong history behind River Verdon in 1993/94 and Voyage Bubble in 2024/25 to secure the Triple Crown – which requires the same horse to land the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m) and G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m) in the same season.

Same as Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior also won five G1 races this term, boosting his prizemoney to a world record-extending HK$288,745,697. Based on his outstanding achievements, he was named Champion Middle-Distance Horse five years in a row, and also Champion Stayer. In addition, he is crowned this year’s Champion Miler based on his brilliant winning performance in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m).

Trained by Mark Newnham, Invincible Ibis was named this season’s Champion Four-Year-Old. The son of Hellbent snared the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) with a convincing victory. In his subsequent start he also ran a creditable fourth in the G1 Champions Mile (1600m), his first time of asking in the Group one event. In addition, he was also named the season’s Most Improved Horse after scoring 57 points to a career-high rating of 112 with five wins from nine starts in the season.

The Francis Lui-trained Hot Delight capped a remarkable first season as Champion Griffin of Hong Kong. Achieving a career highlight with victory in Class 2, the son of Too Darn Hot shot up 37 rating points and now sits on a career-high figure of 89. He rounded off his first season with four wins and one fourth from just five starts.

Zac Purton is now a nine-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey. The Australian rider enjoyed another brilliant season of dominance, including reaching 2,000 career wins in Hong Kong.

This season’s Champion Trainer, the winner of the Tony Cruz Award for the season’s leading homegrown rider, Most Popular Jockey and Most Popular Horse will be announced either at the conclusion of Sunday’s (12 July) 87th Sha Tin meeting, or Wednesday’s (15 July) 88th and final fixture this season at Happy Valley.