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Ka Ying Rising vs Romantic Warrior: Who wins at 1600m?
Connor Scanlon • December 14th, 2025 2:45 pm
Who would win, Ka Ying Rising or Romantic Warrior, at 1600m?
That is the exact question which was asked of superstar hoop and Ka Ying Rising’s regular jockey Zac Purton.
The 42-year-old admitted that he would have to side with Romantic Warrior purely because he’s been proven at 1600m before.
“It's an interesting question because we always thought Ka Ying Rising might have been a better horse over a mile, but he's just a brilliant sprinter,” Purton told SENTrack & RSN’s Giddy Up.
“We've never really had to stretch him out, and we never will stretch him out, so, it’s an endless question, it's never gonna happen.
“You probably always side with the horse that's gone and run the distance the strongest (Romantic Warrior).
Giddy Up host Gareth Hall also brought this debate up previously on the show, but Romantic Warrior’s regular jockey James McDonald believes the question is all wrong.
J-Mac claimed that the debate was initially over 1500m, but Hall stated that distance wouldn’t be fair, as Ka Ying Rising’s best distance is across 1200m, while Romantic Warrior’s is at 2000m. Therefore, the hypothetical race should be in the middle at 1600m.
Zac Purton joked about this, asking why don’t they bring the hypothetical race back to 1400m.
Purton: “J-Mac didn't want to take the chance that he'd get beat at 1500m.
“Why don't we come back to 1400m and make it a proper race?”
Hall: “Well, that's what I said because he did sprint quicker than Ka Ying Rising the other day.
“It would be fun to watch him try to keep up with Ka Ying Rising over that trip and see if he had that acceleration.”
Purton: “He’s actually got a lot of speed (Romantic Warrior).
“Romantic Warrior in many barrier trials is laid right up in 1200m trials, so he's got speed.
“He hasn't got Ka Ying Rising's speed, but he's got enough speed to stay in touch.”
