Great champions don’t duck the fight, they turn up wherever they need to and prove they’re the best. We saw it with Romantic Warrior – retired just this week – and we’re seeing it with Ka Ying Rising.
Contrarians with a visored view might say Ka Ying Rising has ducked Europe. But then, others will say so what? The truth is, he doesn’t need Europe. Hong Kong’s latest and best great sprinter has already jetted away from home and beaten Australia’s best on their own turf, and that counts for much more than a ‘Jubilee’ win at Royal Ascot.
His Everest win in Sydney, his dominance in Asia, the record times he clocks, the calibre of horses he defeats, the ease of his victories, they’re enough to have proved his greatness.
His jockey Zac Purton told Idol Horse as much. “Ka Ying Rising is probably the best horse I’ve seen in Hong Kong in the time I’ve been here,” he said, “and that’s quite a statement when you consider Golden Sixty and Romantic Warrior.”
But while he’s doing his winning – he’ll be $1.05 again first-up at Sha Tin this Sunday – those behind him in Hong Kong’s sprint pool are left battling for scraps. The pattern is set: if you’re a Group 1 level sprinter in Hong Kong with ambitions to win, you’d better book a plane ticket out.
It was the same when Silent Witness dominated 20-plus years ago: Cape Of Good Hope’s connections cried enough, headed offshore and bagged Group 1 wins in England and Australia, plus six further top-three finishes overseas.
So, when Ka Ying Rising steps out this weekend, Fast Network will be in Japan to ‘do a Cape Of Good Hope,’ sent offshore to avoid the champion he cannot match and shoot for a perceived weaker option in the G2 Centaur Stakes. Then on to the G1 Sprinters Stakes at Nakayama.
Damian Lane, the Melbourne-based rider with an excellent record in Japan, leapt on the opportunity, made contact with Fast Network’s trainer Dennis Yip and picked up the ride in both races.
“I’m looking forward to riding him in this class,” Lane told Idol Horse this week. “What he’ll race against on Sunday is a fair drop from a Ka Ying Rising. I think it’d be fair to say that this year, in particular, the sprinters are pretty light-on in Japan.
“Satono Reve is obviously not going to be here for this autumn and he’s probably been their best the last couple of years, so it opens it up. I think they’ve chosen a good year to travel Fast Network and hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him.”
Ask most racing fans outside of Japan to name a top Japanese sprinter and they’d struggle to name more than Lord Kanaloa and now Satono Reve off the back of his European exploits.
Satono Reve’s issue hasn’t been ducking a champion – he’s travelled to Sha Tin four times to take a whipping from Ka Ying Rising – it’s been a lack of viable races. Japan just doesn’t focus on speed, the whole system there is set up for middle-distance stars. One of Japan’s strengths is that it does not flood the calendar with too many Group 1 races, it protects that quality overall, but unfortunately this limits the sprint division.
Of all Japan’s 24 Group 1 races only two are sprints, both at 1200m, the left-handed Takamatsunomiya Kinen in the spring and the right-handed Sprinters Stakes in the autumn.
Satono Reve clearly dislikes Nakayama where the Sprinters is held, and that’s a big factor in his long excursion this year. There’s no other option at home.
Some of the best sprinters in Japan end up sprinting by default, horses dropping down after failing to live up to hopes over longer trips, like the three-year-old Diamond Knot, down from the mile and seen as a leading chance on Sunday.
“The younger horses like Diamond Knot, the up and comers, are more the ones that are going to be interesting,” Lane said. “Flicker Jab, the four-year-old, he’s put together a nice record, six from 11, and Puro Magic, who’s five now, he is in really good recent form.”
But avoiding Ka Ying Rising is still no guarantee of a win, as Satono Reve has found with three losses this summer.
“It’s still a big ask with the travel and Fast Network has had to quarantine at one facility, then move to the racecourse; he’s done a bit of travelling so we’ll see how he’s handled that,” Lane said, adding that the Hanshin track won’t be a bother.
So, Japan’s shallow sprinting pool might be just the arena Fast Network needs to shine, and if he does, he’ll throw a bit more glow Ka Ying Rising’s way. Not that the champion needs it. ∎
