WHEN it comes to speed, the New Zealand-bred Shamexpress is a name to reckon with. The son of champion sire O’Reilly (Last Tycoon) may only have won three of his 19 starts, but they included a victory in Australia’s premier sprint, the Group 1 Lexus Newmarket Stakes at Flemington.

A winner at two, Shamexpress had his best season at three, and while he did not win again after his greatest success, he did perform well on a number of occasions in the best of company. He placed three more times in Group 1 company, all at Flemington, running second to Buffering in the VRC Sprint Classic, to Snitzerland in the Black Caviar Lightening Stakes, and when third in the Coolmore Stud Ascot Vale Stakes. He was twice fourth in Group 1 contests.

Shamexpress stands at Windsor Park Stud in Cambridge, New Zealand where his fee is $8,000, the equivalent of €4,400. He is responsible for a gelding who is among the very best sprinters in the world, Ka Ying Rising.

Bred by Fraser Auret’s Grandmoral Lodge Racing, he was one of the four Group 1 winners at the recent Sha Tin meeting, beating an international field that included the recent Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner, Starlust.

Victory for the David Hayes-trained Ka Ying Rising in the Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint was a first at this level, an eighth successive win, and his ninth victory in an 11-race career. On his second and third runs he was runner-up to the same horse, Wunderbar, beaten a nose and a short head. So, about half a length is all that stands between Ka Ying Rising and an unbeaten career to date.

Voted the Champion Griffen in Hong Kong in 2023-24. Ka Ying Rising won the Group 2 Jockey Club Sprint on his penultimate start, in a course record time, and his other big races wins include the Group 2 Sha Tin Premier Bow and Group 3 Sha Tin Vase. He doubled his career winnings on Sunday, and they now stand at just over £3 million.

This is truly one of those fairytale stories. Fraser Auret is a successful trainer, with three Group 1 winners to his credit, but Ka Ying Rising is the first horse that he ever bred, He trained the gelding’s dam Missy Moo, a daughter of Per Incanto (street Cry), and won five races with her. She had been purchased for – wait for it - $500 at the 2014 New Zealand Bloodstock National Weanling, Broodmare and Mixed Sale.

Really talented

Auret described her as “a really talented racehorse who had an issue which prevented her from every racing at her top.” Sadly, the reason that her opportunities were limited is that she suffered from arthritis in a hind leg, an ailment that worsened with her subsequent pregnancies. Ka Ying Rising is her first produce, but after her second colt was born, the decision was taken to euthanize her as her condition worsened.

With no filly from her, Fraser Auret went in search of a sister to Missy Moo, but that proved to be a dead end. Missy Moo’s dam Royal Rhythm (Rhythm) had eight other foals, all colts. This is the end of the line for this particular branch of the family. Royal Rhythm had not made a mark at stud, as just three of her nine foals won, and Missy Moo was easily the best.

It is not a whole lot better under the third dam, Her Dynasty (Sir Tristram), Though bred for greatness, she showed nothing on the racecourse, and at stud had 10 foals. Seven of them raced and four won, and the best of them was above average. He was Inter Musician (Palace Music) and in an honourable career he put together a record of 15 wins, and twice finished fourth in Group 2 races.

Taiona’s legacy

Her Dynasty is a daughter of one of the greatest broodmares in New Zealand’s stud book, Taiona (Sovereign Edition). She bred three Group 1 winners, four stakes winners, and they were all full-siblings to Her Dynasty. They included the champion Gurner’s Lane, winner of the Melbourne and Caulfield Cups, Sovereign Red whose three Group 1 wins included the Victoria Derby and Australian Derby, and the Group 1-winning mare Trichelle.

Ironically, another of Her Dynasty’s full-sisters, Delia’s Choice (Sir Tristram), bred the Group 1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas winner Foxwood (Centaine), and she is the third dam of the great Mr Brightside (Bullbars). He and Ka Ying Rising share the same fourth dam. Mr Brightside’s current tally of victories stands at 18, and eight of there are Group 1 wins. He and his distant cousin could yet meet if current plans to send Mr Brightside to race in Hong Kong are realised.