From The Horse's Mouth - Mark Van Deventer

Even for total devotees, creating speed figures involves a lot of drudge work. And all those labors in crunching the numbers may not prove remunerative because most horses fall within a band from weak to mediocre. And betting moderate horses that take turns beating one another is not the key to the mint.

But there is something special about measuring thoroughbred performance accurately and having a secret code for interpreting just how good a performance really is.

So it is with true delight that a speed figure zealot can report on Ka Ying Rising latest tour de force in Hong Kong on Sunday.

Officially rated the best racehorse in the world, and returning after winning the Everest in Australia, he was 1/10 odds on favourite to whip local rivals in the Jockey Club Sprint, a feat he managed in some style. In the succinct words of trainer, David Hayes, “this was his best…’’

Taken literally ran a speed figure of 120 but he just freewheeled in the last 200m and could have gone quicker if put under pressure. Crunching some of the key sectionals when he quickened up from a handy position, suggest he could rate higher than 126 + which is phenomenal.

Another one of the world’s current best racehorses, globetrotter Romantic Warrior came back from surgery to win the Jockey Club Cup over 2000m. It was a slow run race which turned into a sprint as they came towards the final bend. Even though the field jogged early there are few middle-distance horses able to gallop 400m in 21.7 seconds which was Romantic Warrior’s blistering come home fraction.

Admittedly on a much less rarified level, Kenilworth nevertheless staged some good quality racing on Saturday. Here are the top performances measured on the clock:

Great Plains s/s 106 again showed his liking for seven panels quickening up to beat stable mate, Sail the Seas s/s 105.

Regulation s/s 103 when drawing clear over 1800m. He should be followed in upcoming races over middle distances. All three of these horses mentioned are trained by Justin Snaith, who had a valuable stint working in Oz under genial and knowledgeable trainer, David Hayes, mentioned earlier in this blog.

Green Gateway s/s 101 (trained by Dean Kannemeyer) showed a flashy turn of foot to come from the rear in the Sophomore Sprint and outduel Roland Garros (Snaith, again) in a thriller. Both are very smart 3YO’s.

Mai Sensation s/s 98 got the run of the race and capitalized in the Bantry Bay Stakes. The horse to take out of this contest is the runner up Raven Black who completely blew the start and did remarkably under the circumstances to get within half a length in this sprint. His performance can be upgraded to a s/s of 103 ++.