Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Olympics
Football
Netball
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Basketball
Tennis
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Live sport on SN this weekendKa Ying Rising vs Romantic Warrior: Who wins HK Horse of the Year?
Connor Scanlon • May 31st, 2026 11:14 am
Take your pick!
Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior both dominated racing in Hong Kong across the 2025/2026 racing season, with both the legendary horses winning five Group 1s each.
Both of them are now looking to win their second Hong Kong Horse of the Year title, with Ka Ying Rising claiming the award last season (2024/2025) and Romantic Warrior winning the year before (2023/2024), but who will take home the prestigious title this time around?
On SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up, Ka Ying Rising’s jockey Zac Purton and Romantic Warrior’s jockey James McDonald debated which one of their horse's should take out the award.
Purton kicked off proceedings, starting by praising J-Mac’s horse and listing off the son of Acclamation’s major 2025/2026 achievements, before explaining why that alone isn’t good enough to win Hong Kong Horse of the Year.
“I'll start with Romantic Warrior,” Purton started.
“If we look at this season, Romantic Warrior had six starts for six wins. He was unbeaten and he won five Group 1 races.
“He earned $74 million in season stakes and took his world record prize money to $288 million.
“But he nearly got beat twice. I know you're going to make the argument that he won the Triple Crown (but) Voyage Bubble also won the Triple Crown last year and didn't win Horse of the Year.
“Two years ago, when I thought Lucky Sweynesse should have won the Horse of the Year, he had eight starts for eight wins, he won the Speed Series, and he still lost it to Romantic Warrior.
“So, just because you're unbeaten, doesn't guarantee that you're going to win it and just because you've won the Triple Crown, obviously doesn't mean you're going to win it.”
The champion jockey then changed focus to his horse, Ka Ying Rising, exclaiming why it is “not even a debate” for the David Hayes-trained gelding to win the prestigious award.
“If we look at Ka Ying Rising and what he did this season, he had eight starts for eight wins, he was unbeaten. Five Group 1s, including The Everest down there in Australia,” Purton continued.
“He won $92 million in season stakes, so that's more than the $74 million that Romantic Warrior won.
“His starting odds, can you believe, in every single race, except for one, he started at $1.
“The last run he had this season, there was $97 million bet in the win pool and $94 million was bet on Ka Ying Rising. That's never been done before.
“Now, if we actually look at the way they won their races, Ka Ying Rising was totally dominant in every start, except The Everest. (Whereas) there were a couple of races there where Romantic Warrior looked like he was going to get beat.
“Timeform rated Ka Ying Rising the best sprinter in the last 50 years, better than Black Caviar.
“He's now the highest rated horse in Hong Kong racing history domestically.
“And Ka Ying Rising broke the track record three times in Hong Kong.
“So, when you look at everything that Ka Ying Rising’s done this season, compared to Romantic Warrior, it's not even in a debate for Horse of the Year.”
While J-Mac respected the superb stats Purton brought to the table about Ka Ying Rising, he simply couldn’t agree with his fellow hoop.
McDonald plead his case, stating that it is a “no-brainer” for Romantic Warrior to be crowned Hong Kong Horse of the Year.
“Very impressive stats, those figures are pretty incredible. Imagine having two horses like that in the same breath,” McDonald started.
“But in saying that, Romantic’s done it from a mile to 2400m - his distance ranges obviously from 1000m, it's not just one trip all the time.
“They both won five Group 1s throughout the season, and whether he had eight runs or five runs, they both ended up unbeaten.
“Romantic Warrior recorded a record-breaking fourth Hong Kong Cup, a record-breaking fourth QEII Cup, and he's won the Triple Crown.
“It's a no-brainer!”
The Hong Kong Horse of the Year is scheduled to be announced in mid-July at the annual Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards.
Imagine what you could be buying instead. For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au
