Hong Kong racing

HONG KONG, CHINA - Hong Kong International Races day began under gray skies and chilly temperatures, but heated up quickly with an opening performance from K-Pop legend RAIN, who brought out the sun for a legion of fans lined up outside the paddock with signs bearing his name and had even HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges bopping along to his performance. The day's expected headliners and hometown heroes Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) and Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) delivered in spades, but the quartet of international races opened with...

by Tom Baddock Hong Kong champion Ka Ying Rising (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) delivered on the weight of expectation at Randwick on Saturday, producing a high-pressure, high-class performance to claim the AU$20 million G1 TAB Everest and in doing so, confirmed his status as the world's best sprinter. Ridden by Zac Purton, Ka Ying Rising jumped cleanly from barrier seven and settled in his trademark on-speed position. As Overpass (Aus) (Vancouver) cut out a brutal early tempo, Purton kept his mount poised just behind the leaders as Jimmysstar (NZ) (Per Incanto...

Leading bloodstock agent Mark McStay has labelled the ITM Barrier Trials as one of the most important innovations on the Irish racing scene for a number of years but implored more trainers to get behind the initiative ahead of the return of the concept at Naas on Monday.  This year marks the fifth running of the ITM Barrier Trials, with trainers like Joseph O'Brien, Gordon Elliott, Gavin Cromwell, Jessica Harrington, Henry de Bromhead and Donnacha O'Brien heavily represented across a 10-trial card that features races over six and seven furlongs...

Florence, KY--"Okay, I'm coming!" said Kaitlin Free. Bursting into a small room sandwiched between the announcer's booth and Free's broadcast studio at Turfway Park in Florence, Kentucky, the Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI) analyst was only halfway through applying her mascara and eyeliner, but that wasn't going to stop her from watching Flood Zone (Frosted) take the GII Gotham Stakes. With half her face on and the other 'au naturel,' Free's eyes were glued to the screen as she watched intently, offered an assessment as the field blazed for the far...

The New Year marks a brave new world for California racing, with one circuit largely consolidated in the South. On New Year's morning, the TDN sat down with Bill Nader, president and CEO of the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC), to discuss this new landscape. In part one, Nader shared, among other things, how simulcasting monies redirected from the North could benefit tracks and purses in the South to the tune of $20 million annually. Here in part two, Nader discusses expectations about horse inventory, impacts on California's breeders, and...

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges has been at the helm of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) since 2007, presiding over a significant expansion of the Asian racing scene. Emmanuel Roussel received an update from the CEO during last weekend's Hong Kong International meeting, with topics including the development of racing at Conghua on the Chinese mainland, and the potential for the HKJC to establish breeding bases in Europe and Australia to boost its supply of Thoroughbreds. Emmanuel Roussel: The international week is always a great event, so close to the festive season....

Duke Wai (NZ) (Per Incanto)'s victory in the Devon H. at Sha Tin Sunday could trigger a start in the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on the Dubai World Cup undercard, trainer Pierre Ng confirmed following the race. "If we get an invitation from Dubai, we'll go to Dubai. I would love to see him run in a straight 1200m race because, in the past, he's run very well in straight 1000m races here, but there's no straight 1200m races here," Ng said of the 7-year-old, who took his career earnings...

Racehorse owner Marc Chan saw his silks in the spotlight not once, but twice last week at Glorious Goodwood when Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}) and Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) supplied a significant Tuesday double in the G2 Vintage S. and G2 Lennox S. And while the rise of Chan--an owner in Britain for just a year--to the pinnacle of the sport seems to have happened suddenly, it is in fact the apex of a lifelong passion that was sparked when Chan started going to the races with his...

Rare is the import that can win first-up in Hong Kong in competitive Class 2 company. But if there is a conditioner on the grounds at Sha Tin capable of extracting a top effort despite that obvious obstacle, it is John Size, who sent out Glorious Days (Aus) (Hussonet) to win the 2013 G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile off a six-month absence, while 2015 Hong Kong Derby hero Luger (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) nearly won the G1 Stewards' Cup the following January after being away from the races for nearly three-quarters...