Hong Kong stars Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior have topped the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, the first time the city has occupied both spots.
The David Hayes-trained Ka Ying Rising headlines the rankings, remaining Hong Kong’s highest-rated racehorse in history on a mark of 128, while the Danny Shum Chap-shing-trained Romantic Warrior was close behind with a rating of 124.
Third place in the list, which was released on Thursday, went to Japanese middle-distance dirt campaigner Forever Young, trained by Yoshito Yahagi with a rating of 123.
Ratings are based on performances in elite races during a certain period, in this case between January 1 and March 8, and take into account elements such as the quality of opposition and prize money.
Ka Ying Rising broke a 21-year record of 18 straight wins in February by taking out the Group One Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, exceeding the previous Hong Kong record set by Silent Witness in 2005 in front of a packed-out Sha Tin.
In doing so, the son of Shamexpress demolished the track record, knocking six-tenths of a second off the previous time to run home in one minute and 19.36 seconds. It was the five-year-old’s eighth Group One success and sixth win this season.
Hong Kong’s global racing presence was extended further by the Manfred Man Ka-leung-trained Lucky Sweynesse landing joint 11th in the standings, while John Size’s Helios Express shares 15th with the likes of Rebel’s Romance and Autumn Glow.
The pair are rated 118 and 117 respectively in the ratings, highlighting the strength of the current crop of horses from the jurisdiction.
The French-trained Calandagan was previously No 1 with a rating of 130, but horses drop off the list if they have not raced during the qualifying period.
Separately, on Friday, the final list of selected runners for the 149th Hong Kong Derby was released, with Little Paradise, Numbers and Stormy Grove headlining the field for the HK$26 million race on March 22.
Little Paradise will step out as the top-rated horse at 103, with the winner of the first leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series – the Hong Kong Classic Mile – looking to secure a seventh career win for Jimmy Ting Koon-ho.
While Numbers has not won in either of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series legs, a commanding all-the-way performance in the Group Three Centenary Vase stamped him a serious competitor and helped him to secure a rating of 100.
The Hong Kong Classic Cup (1,800m) winner Stormy Grove was impressive when scoring the second leg of the Four-Year-Old Classic Series, defying odds of $22.25 with an incredible turn of foot to defeat Invincible Ibis.
Outside of the headliners, the field is comprised of Sagacious Life, Invincible Ibis, Patch Of Cosmo, Beauty Bolt, Emblazon, Top Dragon, Regal Gem, Juneau Pride, Dazzling Fit, Seraph Gabriel and Pope Cody.
Pope Cody was given priority to run despite his rating of 76, with Windlord demoted from the list of priority starters.
Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Jockey Club CEO, said he was looking forward to “one of world racing’s greatest sporting events”.
“I would like to send my congratulations to the owners of all 14 horses selected to run in the BMW Hong Kong Derby,” he said. “It is steeped in immense history and is one of the leading attractions in our city for fans at home and abroad, with the race broadcast to many corners of the world.”
