Zac Purton doubts Ka Ying Rising will lower his track record at Sha Tin on Sunday, but he still expects the world’s best sprinter to produce an electrifying display when he defends his Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) crown.

The David Hayes-trained superstar chases a 16th consecutive victory and comes into the HK$28 million feature off the back of what Purton believes was “probably his career-best performance last start”.

On his first start since his Group One The Everest (1,200m) success in Australia, Ka Ying Rising again toyed with his rivals to claim the Group Two Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m) by almost three lengths last month.

Twelve rivals face the daunting task of upstaging Ka Ying Rising on Sunday, including familiar foes Helios Express and Japan’s Satono Reve.

“Whenever they travel, you’re always concerned with how they’re going to cope with that and how they’re going to come back, but it was great to see him come back and do what he did, so that gives us a lot of confidence going into this race,” Purton said.

“He got into a lovely rhythm [last start] in a fast-run race – he loves fast-run races – and he put them away. It was great to see and he’s trained on well since, so I’m really looking forward to Sunday.

“Everything’s gone to plan. We know the opposition, we know how he measures up against them. It’s just a matter of getting the right run.”

For the first time in Ka Ying Rising’s career, the son of Shamexpress will jump from gate one and all eyes will be on what Purton does early in running from the inside draw.

While the champion jockey expects a strong tempo, with Beauty Waves and Japan’s Win Carnelian likely to vie for the front, he doesn’t believe Ka Ying Rising will break his track record of 1:07.20 from his Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m) blitz in January.

“Sprint races in Hong Kong are never run slow – it doesn’t matter if it’s a Group One or a Class Five,” Purton said.

“There’s going to be pressure and there are horses in this race with speed, so I’m confident it’s not going to be a slowly run race.

“But do I think they’re going to break the track record as well? No, I don’t. The winter grass has come through, it’s a bit softer and the track’s a bit thicker. No doubt they’ll put a bit more water on the track as well – they usually do for this meeting, so I don’t think the track record is going to be seen.

“But as long as we win the race, we’ll tick that off and move on to the next one.”

Ka Ying Rising will no doubt start at the rock-bottom price of $1.05, as he has in his past four Hong Kong starts, while Satono Reve, Helios Express and Fast Network are likely to battle for the next line of betting.

Satono Reve got within three-quarters of a length of Ka Ying Rising when third in last year’s Hong Kong Sprint and was a distant second to the superstar in April’s Group One Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1,200m). He returns to Hong Kong off the back of a last-start fourth in the Group One Sprinters Stakes (1,200m) at Nakayama.

Helios Express notched his eighth placing behind Ka Ying Rising when closing well late for third in the Jockey Club Sprint, indicating he is on track for a big run on Sunday.

Fast Network is the new kid on the block after winning the Group Three National Day Cup (1,000m) in September and running an encouraging second in the Jockey Club Sprint.

Sprinters Stakes victor Win Carnelian and evergreen nine-year-old Khaadem are the other international raiders in the Hong Kong Sprint.