Zac Purton is gearing up for a big Easter weekend, with Group One rides in Australia being a brilliant prelude to partnering the world’s best sprinter Ka Ying Rising in the Group Two Sprint Cup (1,200m) at Sha Tin on Monday.

Purton and Ka Ying Rising eclipsed Silent Witness’ Hong Kong record of 17 consecutive victories by winning the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (1,400m) in February and are now looking to extend that sequence to 19 when he takes on a familiar field.

Now recognised as the world’s top-rated horse in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for January to March, Purton has no concerns about Ka Ying Rising getting the job done as the pair look to continue making history when they break from barrier five.

“I can’t see why he can’t continue to keep doing what he is doing,” Purton said. “I just take every race as it comes and for him it’s all the same, right?

“Hopefully, he handles himself on race day, gets out of the gates clean and gets himself into the right spot – if those things happen, then he does the rest.

“We all know what he can do and we all know what he’s about – he’s a very straightforward horse. Everything is ticking over with him and his trial was good. It seems like he’s in good form and good spirits as he always is.”

Purton will also ride the Dennis Yip Chor-hong-trained Fast Network in Monday’s Group Two Chairman’s Trophy (1,600m).

Yip was hoping to send his crack sprinter to Dubai on World Cup night, but that dream could not be realised and rather than taking on Ka Ying Rising again, he has made the brave decision to step up his stable star to the mile.

Beaten just a length and a half in the 2025 Classic Mile on his most recent mile start, he arrives to the race on the back of a dominant Class One victory over 1,200m.

“It’s a good chance to see him over the mile as to where they’re going to go on Champions Day,” Purton said. “His win last start was very good, but he had the right barrier and the race was run to suit – it’s exactly the way he likes to race.

“It’s a bigger field than what I was expecting, but he’s a quality horse and it’s a bit of trial and error. Unfortunately we couldn’t go to Dubai, which is a shame, because as it turns out, I think he would have been very hard to beat.”

Before his Group Two rides in Hong Kong, Purton will head to Randwick on Saturday with his ride on fan favourite sprinter Giga Kick in the Group One TJ Smith Stakes (1,200m) being the highlight.

The three-time Group One winner is now a six-year-old, but he secured top-level success in November and Purton is looking forward to the ride – and a look at potential competition for the Group One The Everest (1,200m).

“It’s good to be back on him – I ran second on him in this race back in 2023. They’ve done a really good job to get him back after such a long time off, and his runs this time have shown that he’s heading the right way,” Purton said.

“He loves Randwick, which is a big plus, and it’ll be good to get another look at the other horses close up as well, because obviously we’ll [Ka Ying Rising] be going back down there in the spring to try and defend our title.”

Purton will also ride Evaporate in the Group One Doncaster Mile for Ben, Will and JD Hayes, with the four-year-old finishing second in the Group One All-Star Mile at Flemington two starts ago.

“He ran well in the All-Star Mile and then he was a bit disappointing the other day, I thought, but he gets back to a handicap where he should be better suited,” Purton said.

“It is going to be hard to beat the three-year-olds, especially Sheza Alibi, with no weight on her back.”

Evaporate could be bound for Hong Kong on April 26, where he is nominated for the Group One Champions Mile.