Ka Ying Rising Timeform Horse of the Year 2025 is a title that neatly captures the scale of a sprinter whose feats over the past season have redefined excellence at the highest level. The New Zealand-bred five-year-old, trained by David Hayes, has been crowned Timeform’s Horse of the Year for 2025, adding further lustre to a career that already reads like a modern racing chronicle.
The honour comes on the back of a campaign marked by consistency, speed and authority. Ka Ying Rising, last season’s Hong Kong Horse of the Year, was also named Timeform’s Champion Sprinter for 2025, recognition that reflects both the quality and depth of his performances across elite company.
A record-setter in every sense, Ka Ying Rising has amassed HK$122.57 million in earnings while winning 17 of his 19 career starts. His current sequence of 16 consecutive victories matches the celebrated mark set by Golden Sixty and leaves him just one short of the long-standing all-time record in the city.
Timeform’s assessment underlines the substance behind the statistics. Over the past year, Ka Ying Rising produced five individual performances rated 130 or higher, during a stretch that delivered five top-tier victories and two at the next level up, all within his unbeaten run. That sequence will next be tested when he lines up in the Centenary Sprint Cup over 1200 metres at Sha Tin on Sunday, 25 January.
David Hayes has never been one to overstate, yet even he speaks of this sprinter in rare terms. “He’s the best horse I’ve trained and he’ll be the best horse I’ve seen if he keeps going the way he is,” Hayes said. “His best attributes are his high-cruising speed and his ability to lengthen at the business end of his races.”
Ka Ying Rising Timeform Horse of the Year 2025: Ratings That Tell the Story
The peak of Ka Ying Rising’s Timeform profile came ahead of his second successive Hong Kong Sprint triumph last December, when a commanding Class 1 success over 1200 metres at Sha Tin earned him an exceptional rating of 135, the highest recorded by Timeform during the year. Carrying a substantial weight against proven Group 1 opposition, he asserted his superiority first-up in September, defeating a deep field with authority.
That performance set the tone for an international highlight later in the season, when Ka Ying Rising travelled abroad and delivered a landmark victory in Australia’s richest sprint at Royal Randwick, becoming the first overseas-trained horse to claim that honour. The achievement further cemented his standing as a global sprinting force.
His ascent had been evident even earlier. As a four-year-old in 2024, Ka Ying Rising captured a major Group 2 sprint at Sha Tin, lowering a long-standing 1200-metre track record that had stood for 17 years. Just over a month later, he opened his 2025 account by powering home in a breathtaking 1 minute 07.20 seconds to secure the Centenary Sprint Cup, the first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series.
From there, the season unfolded with relentless momentum. Victories in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400 metres and the Chairman’s Sprint Prize over 1200 metres completed a clean sweep of the Speed Series and earned the associated bonus, rounding out an eight-win year that left little doubt about his supremacy.
Ka Ying Rising now joins an exclusive list of champions to have dominated the Speed Series, following in the footsteps of celebrated names such as Mr Vitality, Grand Delight, Silent Witness and Lucky Sweynesse.
Beyond Ka Ying Rising Timeform Horse of the Year 2025 recognition, Timeform’s annual honours also highlighted excellence across divisions. Calandagan was named Champion Middle-Distance performer with a rating of 133, Field Of Gold topped the milers on 127, Minnie Hauk claimed Champion Filly and Mare honours on the same mark, while Trawlerman led the stayers, also rated 127.
Founded in 1948 by Phil Bull, Timeform has long been regarded as one of racing’s most authoritative evaluators. Its latest awards reinforce what racegoers have witnessed all season: a sprinter operating at a level that places him firmly among the modern greats.
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