Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising has the potential to rate as the best sprinter this century, according to Timeform's Flat editor David Johnson.
Ka Ying Rising, winner of 14 of his 16 starts and unbeaten since January 2024, has a world-leading Timeform rating of 135 and dazzled when giving away lumps of weight on his return from a break at Sha Tin on Sunday.
He's already rated higher than Silent Witness (129) and Sacred Kingdom (131) were during their Hong Kong heydays and is in the same bracket as Battaash and Black Caviar.
Johnson said: "Hong Kong has been home to some world-class sprinters down the years, with the likes of Silent Witness and Sacred Kingdom both rated top-class by Timeform at their peak, but in Ka Ying Rising it looks to have produced one even better than that pair.
"Ka Ying Rising is rated 135 on the back of his comfortable win in the Chairman’s Prize in April where he comfortably beat Satono Reve by much further than Lazzat was able to do at Royal Ascot, and he cemented that with a most impressive win under a big weight in handicap company at the weekend.
"A rating of 135 is behind only Battaash and Black Caviar among the sprinters this century, that pair rated 136, and their position at the top is surely under threat with Ka Ying Rising’s victories only looking to scratch the surface of his ability at present.
"International competition has been an important feature of Flat racing for the best part of 40 years now and Ka Ying Rising heading to Australia to take on the best sprinters from Down Under in the Everest, the most valuable race on turf, is a prospect that racing fans from all areas of the globe can look forward to."
Ka Ying Rising is 3 lb clear at the head of Timeform's global rankings from Via Sistina, now trained in Australia by Chris Waller having previously been with George Boughey in Britain, though her peak figure of 132 derives from her performance in the 2024 Cox Plate and she's not had to run near that level this year.
Ka Ying Rising is rated 5 lb higher than the top horses in Europe, Field of Gold (130p) and Ombudsman (130), and a remarkable 11 lb higher than the top sprinter Lazzat, who earned his figure of 124 when beating Satono Reve by half a length in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot but has been below that level twice since.
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