Hong Kong racing celebrated a landmark moment on Friday night as two of its modern greats, Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior, were jointly recognised as Hong Kong Champions during the annual Champion Awards presentation at the Grand Ballroom of the Rosewood Hotel. It marked the first time in the history of the awards that two horses shared the sport’s highest honour.
Hong Kong Champion Awards 2025
Ka Ying Rising, owned by the Ka Ying Syndicate and trained by David Hayes, was crowned the 2024/25 Horse of the Year after a remarkable campaign that confirmed his standing among the world’s elite sprinters. The award also secured him a second consecutive Champion Sprinter title, having captured five Group 1 victories during the season.
The unbeaten star completed the term with eight wins from eight starts, stretching his winning sequence to an extraordinary 20 races. Earlier in the campaign, he surpassed the long-standing Hong Kong record of 17 consecutive local victories previously held by Silent Witness.
Ka Ying Rising’s season was distinguished not only by his consistency but also by exceptional speed. He established three track records in successive appearances, producing outstanding times in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, The Sprint Cup and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. He also retained the Hong Kong Speed Series title for a second straight year.
Adding further international prestige to his campaign, the sprint sensation became the first overseas-trained horse to win Australia’s rich turf sprint, The Everest, enhancing an already remarkable season. He currently holds an international rating of 131, placing him among the world’s highest-rated sprinters.
Romantic Warrior, trained by Danny Shum, joined Ka Ying Rising as a two-time Hong Kong Champion after another outstanding year that followed his Horse of the Year success in 2023/24.
The seven-year-old once again proved his class by winning both the Hong Kong Cup and the QEII Cup for a record fourth time. His achievements were made even more impressive by a successful return following fetlock surgery earlier in the season.
Romantic Warrior also became only the third horse in Hong Kong racing history to complete the coveted Triple Crown, achieved by winning the Stewards’ Cup, Hong Kong Gold Cup and Champions & Chater Cup during the same season. Like Ka Ying Rising, he collected five Group 1 victories during the campaign.
Those performances lifted his career earnings to a world-record HK$288,745,697. His consistency across multiple distances earned him Champion Middle-Distance Horse for the fifth consecutive season, while he also received Champion Stayer and Champion Miler honours.
Another standout performer recognised during the evening was Invincible Ibis, trained by Mark Newnham. The son of Hellbent claimed Champion Four-Year-Old after his convincing success in the HK$26 million Hong Kong Derby before producing a creditable fourth-place finish in the Champions Mile on his Group 1 debut.
Invincible Ibis also collected the Most Improved Horse award after raising his official rating by 57 points to a career-high mark of 112, recording five victories from nine starts during the season.
Champion Griffin honours went to Francis Lui-trained Hot Delight, who enjoyed a remarkable debut campaign. The son of Too Darn Hot won four of his five starts and climbed 37 rating points to finish the season on a mark of 89 after progressing to Class 2 company.
Among the human honours already confirmed, Zac Purton secured his ninth Hong Kong Champion Jockey title after another dominant season, which also included reaching the milestone of 2,000 career victories in Hong Kong.
The remaining awards, including Champion Trainer, the Tony Cruz Award for leading homegrown rider, Most Popular Jockey and Most Popular Horse, will be announced following the conclusion of the final meetings of the Hong Kong racing season at Sha Tin and Happy Valley.
The historic sharing of the Horse of the Year honour reflected a season in which two exceptional champions dominated different divisions while producing performances that will be remembered among the finest in Hong Kong racing history.
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