Historic dead-heat crowns Hong Kong champions
Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior have become the first horses to share Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year award after being declared joint winners at the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s annual Champion Awards.
Trained by Australian Hall of Famer David Hayes, Ka Ying Rising claimed the honour for a second consecutive season after remaining unbeaten through an eight-start campaign that included five Group 1 victories, extending his winning streak to 20 races and retaining his Champion Sprinter title.
Romantic Warrior, who was Horse of the Year in 2023/24, earned a second title after becoming just the third winner of Hong Kong’s Triple Crown while also securing unprecedented fourth victories in both the Hong Kong Cup and Queen Elizabeth II Cup.
The decision marks the first time in the history of Hong Kong’s Champion Awards that the Horse of the Year honour has been shared, reflecting the exceptional achievements of two horses who each won five Group 1 races during the season.
Romantic Warrior also finished the season as the world’s highest-earning racehorse, with career prizemoney approaching HK$289 million (A$54 million), while Ka Ying Rising heads into the new campaign as the joint-highest-rated horse in the latest Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
