Andy Newton
The countdown is on for Ka Ying Rising as he begins cranking up his preparations to defend his crown in Australia’s richest race, The Everest.
Right now, he’s undisputed as the world’s leading sprinter, riding an absolutely mind-boggling 20-race winning streak – with 19 of those victories coming right on his home turf at Sha Tin.
His most recent horse racing success – was a romp in the Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on April 26 (watch below).
But it was his lone trip away from the comforts of Hong Kong that truly shook up the racing world.
In the 2025 Everest last season.
Travelling down to Randwick, he completely outclassed what is universally regarded as the fiercest group of sprinters on the planet.
The sheer ease with which David Hayes’ five-year-old dismantled that field left absolutely no doubt about who rules the global sprinting stage (watch below).
And he’s gearing up for to defend his Everest title on October 17.
Ka Ying Rising Looking To Be Only The Second Repeat Everest Winner
Ka Ying Rising will be bidding to become the first ‘back-to-back’ Everest winner since Redzel won the race in 2017 and 2018.
The Everest Recent Winners
- 2025 – Ka Ying Rising
- 2024 – Bella Nipotina
- 2023 – Think About It
- 2022 – Giga Kick
- 2021 – Nature Strip
The plan from here is clear: he’ll make his highly anticipated seasonal reappearance on Hong Kong’s opening day in September, before boarding a plane for Australia in October.
Trainer David Hayes couldn’t be happier with how his superstar is tracking.
“He’s in great shape. He’s doing strong canters at the moment,” Hayes said. “He’ll start doing three-quarter pace at the end of the week and gradually build up to The Everest. It’ll be copy and paste – he’ll run at Sha Tin and then in Australia.”
Before he steps back onto the track under lights, Hayes plans to give him plenty of look-sees.
“He’ll have two trials before Sha Tin – the turf trial and then the one dirt trial,” Hayes added. “He’s had a nice spell in the paddocks and he’s putting on weight – he’s the heaviest he’s ever been, he’s out to 1,170 pounds. I think it’s a positive, not a negative.”
Ka Ying Rising – The Pinnacle of Turf Racing
The Everest was first run in 2017 and since then has completely rewritten the rulebook of global sprinting.
As the undisputed headline act of the Sydney Autumn and Spring Carnivals, it holds the prestigious crown of being the richest race on turf in the world, featuring a mind-boggling AU$20 million prize pool.
The race uses an innovative, high-stakes “slot holder” model.
Instead of a traditional entry system, 12 exclusive slots are sold for $700,000 per year.
The slot holders then act as talent scouts, striking lucrative syndication deals with owners and trainers to lock in the absolute fastest 1200-meter horses on the planet.
It makes for an intensely competitive, tactical build-up long before the horses ever step onto the track.
The 2026 Renewal: Everest Date and Venue
The 2026 edition of The Everest is locked in for Saturday, October 17, 2026.
As is tradition, the spectacle will take place at the historic Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia.
Randwick’s sweeping, 410-meter home straight sets the ultimate stage for a dramatic finish, where a raucous crowd of over 50,000 fans will gather at the iconic Winx Stand to witness the world’s elite speedsters fly across the turf.
Last Year’s Everest Winner (2025)
The 2025 running of The Everest was a historic, boundary-smashing affair, won in absolute commanding fashion by Hong Kong’s ultimate powerhouse, Ka Ying Rising.
Trained by Hall of Famer David Hayes and masterfully guided by champion rider Zac Purton, the five-year-old gelding arrived with plenty of hyper-critical hype surrounding his first-ever run outside of Hong Kong.
He silenced the doubters instantly.
Sitting beautifully in third during the run, Ka Ying Rising effortlessly hunted down local leader Overpass at the 200-meter mark, bursting clear to win by a comfortable 1¼ lengths over the brilliant three-year-old filly Tempted and third-place finisher Jimmysstar.
The victory made him the first internationally trained horse to ever capture the turf showpiece, cementing his status as the undisputed global king of sprint.
The Unstoppable Force: Ka Ying Rising
Born on September 3, 2020, in New Zealand, Ka Ying Rising is currently a five-year-old gelding.
While five is often considered the absolute peak for a top-tier sprinter, he plays like a seasoned veteran who has completely figured the game out.
Who is Ka Ying Rising’s Trainer and Jockey?
This global superstar operates under a true dream-team partnership:
Trainer: David Hayes, the Hall of Fame Australian trainer who manages his campaign out of his elite Hong Kong stable.
Jockey: Zac Purton, Hong Kong’s multi-time champion jockey who has developed an telepathic bond with the horse, guiding him through his historic run.
How Many Races Has Ka Ying Rising Won?
Ka Ying Rising boasts one of the most astonishing records in modern racing history.
Out of 23 lifetime starts, he has racked up 21 wins and 2 seconds.
Even more mind-bogglingly, he is currently riding a 20-race winning streak, with 19 of those victories occurring right on his home turf at Sha Tin.
Ka Ying Rising – His Main Wins
The gelding has clean-swept the biggest sprint prizes on the calendar across multiple seasons.
His defining victories include:
- The Everest (2025)
- Hong Kong Sprint (2024, 2025)
- Chairman’s Sprint Prize (2025, 2026)
- Centenary Sprint Cup (2025, 2026)
- Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (2025, 2026)
By securing these massive Group 1s ‘back-to-back’, he successfully completed consecutive sweeps of the prestigious Hong Kong Speed Series.
How Much Prize Money Has Ka Ying Rising Won?
Thanks to his total dominance of the sprinting ranks and the massive bonuses that come with sweeping the Speed Series, his career bankroll is nothing short of astronomical.
Ka Ying Rising has amassed a jaw-dropping HK$140,131,900 (approximately £14.6m / $18m USD) in career earnings.
Ka Ying Rising’s Last Run
His most recent appearance on the track was an absolute masterclass on April 26, 2026, in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin.
Going off as the 1/20 heavy favorite, he cruised home to beat runner-up Satono Reve by a commanding 4¼ lengths.
To top it off, he clocked a blistering 1m 07.10s, shattering his own Sha Tin 1200m track record and showing the world that he is only getting faster.
