Silent Witness was so adored that even the officials were taken by surprise the day he scored his 17th win in a row unbeaten, which was at the time a modern world record that eclipsed the feat of the 16 unbeaten wins of Ribot, as a rush for souvenirs caused at least 21 people to have to be treated for injury on course (Picture: HKJC)
Felix Coetzee said in an interview with Turf Talk he was “comfortable” with Ka Ying Rising equaling the successive wins record of Silent Witness.
Felix said, “Kaying Rising is an absolutely brilliant horse and you want to see great horses coming through all the time. I don’t feel any sense of loss that the record is equaled or going to be broken, because to me it is more about the individual. I had so many amazing experiences with Silent Witness both in racing and in track work. He was an awesome character. He had enormous presence and there are the memories of the support he got from the people and the crowds on course. I have just got wonderful, wonderful memories of Silent Witness.”
Ka Ying Rising equaled the 17-in-row record of Silent Witness when he won the Gr 1 Centenary Sprint Cup over 1200m on Sunday.
That made his overall career record 18 wins and two seconds in 20 starts.
Ka Ying Rising won on debut over 1200m at Sha Tin by 2,75 lengths, but then lost his next two starts over the same course and distance by a nose and a shorthead respectively, both in class 3 events.
However, he has never looked back and has won his next 17 starts, including seven Gr 1s and those seven include two Hong Kong Sprints and the Everest in Australia, which is the world’s richest turf race. He has earnings of HK$129,855,900.
Silent Witness won eight Gr 1s, including two Hong Kong Sprints and the Sprinters Stakes in Japan, and had earnings of HKD$62,496,396.
However, his one up on Ka Ying Rising is he was still unbeaten when getting his 17-in-a-row.
There is also little doubt the adulation he received was greater than that which Ka Ying Rising receives.
Felix said about the level of adulation Silent Witness received, “We were watching back some films the other day, and wow, if you see the crowd! Without any bias it is my feeling he received greater adulation. You see it was also during SARS time and they sort of called him a symbol of hope, but take nothing away from Ka Ying Rising, he is a phenomenal horse.”
Felix said both of the superstars had similar racing styles, possessing the ability to win it at the start with their gatespeed and early speed, but at the same time being versatile because if did not pan out that way they were quite comfortable coming from off the pace.
