Zac Purton

Reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising picked up where he left off with a tally in the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday. The son of Shamexpress equaled Hong Kong legend Silent Witness's mark of 17-straight wins for a Hong Kong-trained horse with his victory in the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series. Sent off at 1-20 for his attempt at history, the bay bounced straight to the head of affairs, before relaxing as Beauty Waves (Starspangledbanner) passed him heading into...

By Alan Carasso & Adam Houghton Sunday's Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse attracted each of its four defending champions from 2024, and when the dust had settled on the event, three of those four--Romantic Warrior (Acclamation), Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) and Voyage Bubble (Deep Field)--successfully repeated, each spectacularly in their own way. The fourth of them, Giavellotto (Mastercraftsman), was forced to settle for a gallant second to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe third Sosie (Sea The Stars). "To see a horse in Romantic Warrior...

HONG KONG, CHINA -- There is likely never a bad time for a horse racing fan to visit Hong Kong, which conducts racing twice a week alternating between a pair of breathtakingly beautiful racetracks, but the action is extra special this week. It kicked off Wednesday night with the Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley--a racetrack which fairly glitters against a backdrop of skyscrapers--and will conclude Sunday with four Group 1 races comprising the Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin. Even before the jockey championship--which pitted 12...

Forced to miss important fall fixtures in Ireland, France, England and America owing to a stress fracture in his femur discovered in late August, Ryan Moore made a winning return to the saddle at Lingfield Dec. 3 and on Wednesday evening, won two of the four legs--employing dramatically different tactics--to take out the Longines International Jockeys' Championship for a record-equaling third time at iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island. Other dual IJC winners include perennial leading Hong Kong rider Zac Purton, the legendary Douglas Whyte and Frankie Dettori....

Speed star Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) broke ground as the first international horse to win the G1 The Everest Saturday at Royal Randwick, and the connections have already gone on record in saying that they'd like to bring him back for a defense of his crown next year. Now with 15 wins from 17 starts, and unbeaten in his last 14 jumps, Ka Ying Rising put doubts on his ability to rest when comfortably cruising home in the world's richest turf race despite not being at his personal best. Immediately...

by Tom Baddock Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) delivered on the weight of expectation at Randwick on Saturday, producing a high-pressure, high-class performance to claim the AU$20 million G1 TAB Everest and in doing so, confirmed his status as the world's best sprinter. Ridden by Zac Purton, Ka Ying Rising jumped cleanly from barrier seven and settled in his trademark on-speed position. As Overpass (Aus) (Vancouver) cut out a brutal early tempo, Purton kept his mount poised just behind the leaders as Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto...

By Dane McLeod/TTRAusNZ Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) finished a close-up third in his pre-Everest trial at Randwick on Tuesday, with the world's champion sprinter cruising into the minor placing under a hold behind the G1 Randwick Guineas winner Linebacker (Super Seth) and A$10.5-million earner and dual Group 1-winning sprinter Overpass (Vancouver). Plenty in the crowd were keen to catch their first glimpse of the outstanding Hong Kong sprinter, who enjoyed the strong hit-out and clocked a fast time ahead of the A$20 million feature Saturday week. The line-up was stacked...

The world's highest-rated sprinter, Ka Ying Rising (Shamexpress) scooped a trio of titles including Horse of the Year at the Hong Kong Champion Awards at the Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong on Friday night. The 4-year-old gelding also earned the title of Hong Kong Champion Sprinter and Hong Kong Champion 4-Year-Old at the ceremony. Running in the colours of the Ka Ying Syndicate, Ka Ying Rising was undefeated during his 2024/2025 season with eight wins in eight trips to the post for David Hayes. His final seven starts of the...

Plans are taking shape for a new global jockeys' league, which would see 12 world-renowned riders compete against each other multiple times a year, across prestigious racecourses located in each of the major racing jurisdictions. It is hoped that the project will get off the ground in 2026, provided commercial partners to help fund the competition can be found in the interim. Co-founded by former Godolphin chief executive John Ferguson and Lachlan Fitt, who served as chief financial officer of Entain Australia from 2018 until earlier this year, the idea...

Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) further cemented his status as the world's best sprinter with a 2 1/4-length victory in the 1200-metre G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday. Sent off the heavy 1-20 crowd's pick, the bay gelding duly made it a dozen wins in a row with the closing Satono Reve (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) a neck ahead of third-place finisher Helios Express (Aus) (Toronado {Ire}), who also rallied from the rear of the field. In touch with the leaders in a tracking fifth through...

Johannes Brahms (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}), runner-up as the favourite in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes before filling the same spot in the G2 Gimcrack Stakes while under the care of Aidan O'Brien in 2023, is among a full field of 14 for the first leg of the 4-year-old Classic series in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Classic Mile. The HK$13-million event anchors Friday's Chinese New Year meeting at Sha Tin. Acquired privately after finishing third in the Weatherbys Scientific £300,000 2YO Stakes at Doncaster in September 2023, the Tattersalls October...

Zac Purton has broken Douglas Whyte's Hong Kong all-time win record of 1,813 after scoring at Happy Valley on Wednesday evening. Purton was aboard Spirit Of Peace (Aus) (Harry Angel {Ire}) in the Class 4 Kowloon Park Handicap over 1200 metres, the third race on the card, when he tied Whyte's record. In Wednesday's finale, the Class 3 Victoria Park Handicap, the Australian booted View Of The World (NZ) (Derryn {Aus}) home to bring his all-win record on the island to 1,814 and take the record outright. A multiple champion...