Ka Ying Rising’s bid to equal Silent Witness’ Hong Kong record of 17 consecutive victories is “just another race” for a composed Zac Purton, who is just focusing on getting the job done in Sunday’s Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1,200m).

The David Hayes-trained superstar, who was crowned Timeform’s Horse of the Year and the joint second-best horse in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings earlier this week, will level the record that has stood since 2005 if he manages to defeat a field of seven that includes his regular victims.

Last seen demolishing his rivals in one of his best performances in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m), Ka Ying Rising will break from barrier four as he looks to win his seventh Group One contest.

Although recognising the significance of what the son of Shamexpress could achieve on Sunday, Purton is feeling no extra pressure and is just looking to give his mount the best possible chance of success.

“It’s just another race; I’m not going to the races thinking about any records or what’s at stake. My job is to try and give him his best chance to win,” said Purton.

“He’s drawn reasonably well and it’s the smallest field he’s faced in quite some time. He’s coming off a career-best performance so everything tells us that he’s in great shape and his work and trials have been good too.

“Everyone has their own opinion on which horse is better and I think it’s unfair to compare them – they were from different eras.

“I remember watching [Silent Witness] from Australia and he was a very impressive horse. To be on the back of a horse like that is a nice position to be in, but he’s got to go out and keep doing it.”

On the flipside, Purton will have to play underdog in the Group One Stewards’ Cup (1,600m) when he takes on Romantic Warrior with the Ricky Yiu Poon-fai-trained Voyage Bubble.

Last year’s Triple Crown winner looked better than ever when showing all the guts and tenacity you would expect of him to win last month’s Group One Hong Kong Mile, but before that, he was left standing still by Romantic Warrior in the Group Two Jockey Club Cup (2,000m).

The pair meet at the mile trip on this occasion, which could be a very good leveller, but Purton is well aware of the task at hand and does not believe the drop in distance will be of much worry to Romantic Warrior’s camp.

“I think everyone thought [Voyage Bubble] was beat at the 100m [in the Hong Kong Mile]. Soul Rush had a tough run as he was wide and had to work, and he just peaked on his run and allowed our horse to build a bit of confidence and finish off strongly,” said Purton.

“He relaxes very well mid-race and he’s a horse you can put anywhere and he’ll adapt to it – he’s a beauty.

“Generally [dropping in trip would be against Romantic Warrior], but he has so much natural speed that he will put himself anywhere. If you put him in a 1,200m race I bet he’d still lay up and be competitive and maybe even win it.

“He’s an amazing horse and is clearly a better horse than us, so we need to find a way to beat him.”

Purton has ridden a lot of brilliant milers in his time and Voyage Bubble is no exception, with the champion jockey putting him right towards the top of the list after his historic Triple Crown run last year.

“You’ve got to give him respect for what he’s done – he’s a Triple Crown winner and has won multiple international Group One races over the mile, so you’d have him right there with the best,” Purton said.