Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior shared Horse of the Year honours in an unprecedented tie for Hong Kong racing’s most prestigious title at Friday night’s Champion Awards.
Ka Ying Rising joined Golden Sixty, Beauty Generation, Ambitious Dragon and Fairy King Prawn as back-to-back winners of the Horse of the Year, while Romantic Warrior also claimed the title for the second time following his 2023-24 success.
The six-member judging panel, chaired by Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, couldn’t split the champion pair.
In one of the greatest single seasons ever, Ka Ying Rising was unbeaten from eight starts, with victory in the world’s richest turf race, the A$20 million (HK$109 million) The Everest at Randwick the highlight.
The David Hayes-trained superstar broke Silent Witness’ Hong Kong record of 17 consecutive wins, extending his streak to 20, broke three track records at Sha Tin and rose to global recognition as the world’s top-ranked horse.
In the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings released on Thursday, Ka Ying Rising and British star Ombudsman share top spot on a rating of 131.
Danny Shum Chap-shing’s champion Romantic Warrior bagged five Group One victories, becoming the third horse to win the city’s Triple Crown, and extended his world record prize money haul to HK$288.7 million.
“Well this is a true surprise for me,” Romantic Warrior’s owner Peter Lau Pak-fai said.
“I am very delighted and I treasure this honour very much and I hope all of us can treasure this wonderful season, where we can see two such wonderful horses.
“I also treasure very much the great job done by this wonderful trainer, Danny Shum, who makes everything happen.”
Romantic Warrior won another three awards on Friday night – Champion Middle Distance Horse for a remarkable fifth straight year, Champion Stayer and Champion Miler.
Ka Ying Rising added a second straight Champion Sprinter title to his glittering record, while Mark Newnham’s Hong Kong Derby winner Invincible Ibis was named Champion Four-Year-Old and Most Improved Horse.
Hot Delight, a brilliant winner at four of five starts for trainer Francis Lui Kin-wai, was crowned Champion Griffin.
Zac Purton was also celebrated for clinching his ninth jockeys’ championship. With two meetings left this season, the Australian star sits on 140 wins – a staggering 78 clear of nearest rival Hugh Bowman.
Awards for most popular jockey, most popular horse, champion trainer and the Tony Cruz Award for the leading home-grown jockey will be announced at Sha Tin on Sunday or the season finale at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
