Hong Kong Season Opener Features Champ Ka Ying Rising

The Hong Kong Jockey Club kicks off its 2025-26 season Sept. 7 at Sha Tin Racecourse with a couple of champions jumping right into the action and a big-time international goal just over the horizon for one of them. The HKJC also is unveiling major upgrades to its Sha Tin grandstand in Hong Kong's New Territories while pushing back the opening of a potentially transformational regular racing program on the Chinese mainland. The featured attraction on opening day isKa Ying Rising (NZ), the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year, who goes in the HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup at 1,200 meters (about six furlongs). The David Hayes trainee has won 12 straight races in Hong Kong and is being primed for an Oct. 18 tilt at Australia's The Everest (G1), touted as the world's richest turf race at AU$20 million (about US$13 million). Ka Ying Rising has been cruising through preparations for his return, including a 1,000-meter barrier trial at Sha Tin Aug. 30, although Hayes admits he will benefit from a spot of actual competition. Trackwork early Sept. 4 with jockey Zac Purton up demonstrated some irritating tendencies. "It was just typical Ka Ying Rising work," Hayes said, per HKJC media. "He's a bit lazy on his own but we've been doing it now for 12 months and the routine works, so we're not going to change it. I thought the trial down the straight showed that he's back in very good form." Ka Ying Rising won the same race a year ago over a rain-softened turf course carrying 135 pounds and will concede weight again to all 11 rivals. He still will be the overwhelming favorite with the other recognizable name in the field that of Lucky Sweynesse (NZ), a champion sprinter in his own right a few seasons back but now seemingly a few steps past his prime at age 7. Not past his prime is Purton, the reigning Hong Kong jockey champion, who has nine rides on the program, including Ka Ying Rising, as he seeks his ninth jockey title. Purton's issue with Ka Ying Rising is a tendency to switch leads back and forth during a race, usually at inappropriate times, which he did again during the latest trackwork session. "He was just on the wrong leg again, which is becoming more and more frustrating by the day," Purton said. "But hopefully at some stage he works that out and makes life a little easier for himself." Upgraded Sha Tin Facilities Patrons entering Sha Tin will see some major changes to the sprawling facility with what the HKJC describes as a "game-changing racecourse arrival and customer experience... (that) will connect arriving visitors with an immersive digital environment inspired by horse and nature." "The Club has invested more than HK$10 billion (about US$1.28 billion) into a multiyear 'Racecourse Master Plan' to systematically revitalize Sha Tin and Happy Valley racecourses," said HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. "It is our plan to invest another HK$4 billion (about US$500 million) in the next phase to transform our racecourses. This is a key enabler of the Club's vision to develop our racecourses into world-class sport and entertainment centers. By upgrading, altering and rebuilding our venues at the racecourses, we have transformed them from one for 'hardcore gambling' to a destination which attracts Hong Kong, mainland, and overseas customers." While pushing ahead at Sha Tin, the HKJC has pushed back from April to October of 2026 the inauguration of regular race meetings at its multibillion-dollar racetrack and training center at Conghua on the Chinese mainland. Conghua has been in operation for several years for training and rehabilitation and serves as a relief valve for crowded facilities at the Sha Tin stabling area. An earlier racing exhibition went off smoothly and, since then, the Club has built a grandstand to accommodate regular meetings. As wagering on horse racing currently is illegal on the mainland, questions continue to swirl around details of the customer experience when Conghua racing does get under way.