You'd have to say the Ka Ying Rising camp is feeling fairly confident, if the reports coming out of Sha Tin are anything to go by two days out from FWD Champions Day. A winner of 19 straight starts, a record for a Hong Kong-trained horse, the son of Shamexpress is coming into the G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize with everything in his favour.Not only is the reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year aiming for a title defence in Sunday's 1200-metre contest, but connections feel he can get the job done without setting a new course record – and he's done it three times so far.“He is fresh, looks good and he is ready to go on Sunday,” jockey Zac Purton said. “He just pulls up like he has been out for a canter and recovers very quickly, and his aerobic capacity is what sets him apart from other horses.“As you can see with his form on race day, he is just a very consistent horse and has run the 128 rating consistently since he has come back from The Everest and then went to 130 last start [in the G2 Sprint Cup earlier this month].”A new record is not deliberately in the cards, and Purton added, “Last start, he just happened to break the track record because of the wind and the way the race was run. You can't break a track record unless it is set up for you.“He seems to go very close to breaking the track record even when the race isn't run at those fast sectionals.“I would like him to win without going right to the bottom of the barrel, then he can have a nice break without feeling that he is empty. If it is there to be done [the record], I won't disappoint him. I'll let him do his thing.”As towering a favourite as Ka Ying Rising is in the eight-horse field, it is horse racing and anything can happen. A solid performer in Hong Kong if you remove Ka Ying Rising from the equation, Helios Express (Toronado) would have won his last three starts – the G1 Centenary Sprint Cup in January, the G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup and the aforementioned Sprint Cup on April 6.Bringing strong international formlines is Japan's champion sprinter Satono Reve (Lord Kanaloa). Second to Ka Ying Rising in the 2025 edition of this race, he filled the same position in Royal Ascot's G1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes in June. Unplaced in the Longines Hong Kong International Races – again to Ka Ying Rising in the Hong Kong Sprint – the seven-year-old entire scooped his second G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo in March.The group-placed Comanche Brave (Wootton Bassett) leaves from stall four with Oisin Murphy in the irons, just outside of Ka Ying Rising and Purton. He, too, competed at Royal Ascot, taking third in the G3 Jersey Stakes.Can Anyone Dethrone Romantic Warrior In The QEII Cup?The only reason Romantic Warrior isn't aiming for his fifth consecutive G1 FWD QEII Cup is because he didn't target the race in 2025, being otherwise engaged in a lucrative campaign in the Middle East.Since winning the 2025 G1 Jebel Hatta, the ultra-consistent former Hong Kong Horse of the year found only Forever Young (Real Steel) a neck too good in the 2025 G1 Saudi Cup and missed by just a nose to Soul Rush (Rulership) in the G1 Dubai Turf last spring. Returned to his familiar stomping grounds, he's won four on the bounce for owner Peter Lau and trainer Danny Shum, with his most recent victory a four-length drubbing of Ensued (Lemon Drop Kid) in the G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup, his second win in the race.“I think this is the strongest QEII Cup in Hong Kong for 15 or 20 years,” Shum said. “I'm happy so many good horses have come. It's definitely going to be a difficult race for him. The team really, really looks after him. Romantic Warrior is special to me, my stable and my family. I love him and he loves me too. He's a super legend.”Romantic Warrior underwent surgery on his left fetlock joint last May and his trainer added, “After his injury, his owner Peter Lau and I thought he should stay here. We have the [Hong Kong] Triple Crown; hopefully, we can get it. We don't know about next season yet, we see race by race what we want to do.”The gelding's biggest test could arrive in the form of Masqerade Ball (Duramente) from Japan. Now a four-year-old, the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) winner has matured, according to jockey Christophe Lemaire and could dethrone the three-time champ. Second to the Longines World's Best Racehorse Calandagan (Gleneagles) in the G1 Japan Cup, the Shadai Race Horse-owned colt could be coming into his own at the right time.A pair of Europeans will make the 2000-metre race a truly international affair, with G1 Neom Turf Cup hero Royal Champion (Shamardal) representing his late owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed Obaid. Such was the manner in which the eight-year-old gelding vanquished his rivals in Riyadh, that he looks a live chance here.The Wertheimer brothers' Sosie (Sea The Stars), third to Daryz (Sea The Stars) in the 2025 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, claimed the G1 Hong Kong Vase in December. The Andre Fabre trainee will be making his 2026 debut on Sunday. It is worth noting that Daryz, too, will return to action the same day, however the Aga Khan Studs' flagbearer will race in his own backyard in the G1 Prix Ganay at ParisLongchamp.Can Jantar Mantar Redeem Himself In Hong Kong?One of the most decorated G1 FWD Champions Mile entrants, Jantar Mantar also turned in a complete clunker the first (and only) time he graced Sha Tin during the Longines Hong Kong International Races in 2024. Finishing 13th in the Hong Kong Mile to the reopposing Voyage Bubble (Deep Field), the 2025 Japanese Champion Miler is looking for some redemption on Sunday.Formerly a champion juvenile to boot, the son of 2013 GI Belmont Stakes hero and current Japan-based sire Palace Malice already owns four Group 1 victories, and yes, all of them have been over his pet distance of 1600 metres. His 2025 finale was a victory in the G1 Mile Championship in Kyoto and he comes into the fully subscribed race fresh and ready. Paired with Yuga Kawada, he will leave from stall six.After Jantar Mantar jogged a half-lap and hacked for one lap over the all-weather track at Sha Tin on Friday morning, assistant trainer Takashi Matsui, said, “He was relaxed and settled. He's done plenty of gate practice, so he handled it without any issue.”The locals hold a strong hand here, not least the aforementioned Voyage Bubble, who carries the double accolade of Hong Kong's 2025 Champion Miler and Champion Stayer. The six-time Group 1 scorer ran third in the 2024 edition of this race and went one better behind Red Lion (Belardo) in 2025. Since taking his second Hong Kong Mile this past December, the gelding finished third and fifth to FWD QEII Cup entrant and former Horse of the Year Romantic Warrior (Acclamation) in the G1 Stewards' Cup and G1 Hong Kong Gold Cup in January and March, respectively. He found only four-time Group 1 victor Lucky Sweynesse (Sweynesse) and My Wish (Flying Artie) too good in the G2 Chairman's Trophy earlier this month.Adding intrigue is Royal Ascot hero Docklands. The son of Mickley Stud stallion Massaat provided one of the most heart-warming stories of that iconic June meeting last year when clawing out a win in the G1 Queen Anne Stakes, and his connections have sent him to Asia not once but twice since that victory. Ninth to Jantar Mantar in the Mile Championship, the OTI Racing colourbearer ran with credit behind Voyage Bubble when fourth in the Hong Kong Mile in December. He bounced back with a victory in the Listed Doncaster Mile Stakes prepping for this in March. Docklands clocked 1:27 flat for 1200 metres over the Sha Tin course on Friday morning.Harry Eustace's stable representative Laura Pike said, “I'm happy. It was good to get him back on the grass and run easily in your hands. He feels good, so it was a nice confidence booster. He knows where he is, he's fine, he loves it.”The post FWD Champions Day Features Some Of The World’s Best appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.