Hong Kong

A total of 127 foreign-based gallopers--of which fully one-third have already succeeded at the highest level--from eight jurisdictions across the globe have been entered for the HK$110-million Longines Hong Kong International Races to be staged at Sha Tin Racecourse Sunday, Dec. 11. With strict COVID protocols in place over the past two years and with a closed-loop system which allowed overseas entrants to train and compete, the Longines Hong Kong International Races still proved to be a target coveted by overseas connections, and saw victorious performances from the likes of...

Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}) will head to Hong Kong after he finished a creditable fourth behind Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) in the G1 British Champions Sprint, his trainer David Evans has revealed. A kinder draw may have resulted in an even better performance from the Ascot specialist on Saturday, according to Evans, who is now concentrating on an international campaign with his stable star. He said, "It was a bit awkward really. We didn't really know which side they were going to go and we didn't have the pace to...

Silvestre De Sousa, crowned champion jockey in Britain three times, is set to continue his career in the saddle in Hong Kong. De Sousa has been granted a licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club from Aug. 20 to Feb. 20, with the season kicking off at Sha Tin on Sept. 11. The Brazilian native has ridden 67 winners in Hong Kong previously, including the 2018 Hong Kong Cup aboard Glorious Forever (GB) (Archipenko), as well as landing the Longines International Jockeys' Championship the same year. De Sousa said, "I...

Thesis (GB) (Kingman {GB}), the winner of the Britannia S. at Royal Ascot last month, has been sold and will race on in Hong Kong. The Roger and Harry Charlton-trained runner was previously owned by his breeder, Juddmonte. Third to subsequent G2 Queen's Vase second Zechariah (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}) when unveiled at Sandown last July, the colt ran second three times at Newbury, Lingfield, and Doncaster from April to June of this year prior to his Royal Ascot heroics. Roger Charlton said, "Thesis has been sold to race in Hong...

Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) joined the likes of Hong Kong legends Fairy King Prawn (Aus), Silent Witness (Aus), Ambitious Dragon (NZ) and Beauty Generation (NZ) in being named Horse of the Year in Hong Kong for the second consecutive season during ceremonies held Friday evening at the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Happy Valley Clubhouse. The 6-year-old won his first two starts of the year, including a facile defence of his title in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile in December, but suffered just the second loss of his career...

The mental strain and inner turmoil that COVID-19 has caused in Hong Kong over the past 26 months dictate that the talented Blake Shinn will return to Australia at the end of the current racing season. The 34-year-old, winner at home of the 2008 G1 Melbourne Cup and 2016 G1 Golden Slipper, among other feature races, decided to give Hong Kong a go a couple of years back, and while it has not always been smooth sailing, Shinn has done the hard yards. He improved from 15 wins in his...

by Alan Carasso There were no surprises among the winners on Sunday's FWD Champions Day program at Sha Tin Racecourse, as the betting favourites in each of the afternoon's three Group 1 affairs each prevailed with a fair bit of authority. Fittingly, the winners will each take down year-end honours in their respective divisions, even as the award for Hong Kong Horse of the Year figures to remain an open and much-debated question for the next 2 1/2 months. Romantic Warrior Dusts Elders in QE II Cup... In one of...

While the ongoing complications caused by COVID-19 have resulted in no overseas competition, Sunday's FWD Champions Day meeting at Sha Tin will not lack for intrigue, as the region's top horses face a real challenge from the first two home in last month's BMW Hong Kong Derby. Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) is the afternoon's pin-up horse as he seeks an unprecedented 21st career victory when he goes in defence of his crown in the G1 FWD Champions Mile. The 6-year-old suffered the second and third losses of his career...

Multiple Australian Group 1 winner Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}) could return to the Northern Hemisphere and run at Royal Ascot, trainer Annabel Neasham, announced. Racnet.com.au first reported the news. The 7-year-old gelding was successful twice at Group 3 level in his native land for Sir Michael Stoute's Freemason Lodge, and was snapped up by Neasham and Blandford Bloodstock for 150,000gns out of the 2020 Tattersalls Autumn HIT Sale. "I was hoping to take him to Hong Kong for that race, the [G1] Queen Elizabeth Cup, which I think is three...

by Alan Carasso In a finish reminiscent of the 2014 BMW Hong Kong Derby, in which the longer-winded Designs On Rome (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) got the better the more distance-limited Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal) in the dying strides, Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) managed to reel in a very brave California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) to win the HK$24-million domestic centrepiece Sunday afternoon at Sha Tin Racecourse. Money Catcher (NZ) (Ferlax {NZ}), thrice placed at group level in New Zealand, parlayed a perfect inside trip into a third-place...

The connections of the speedy California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) were hardly doing cartwheels after their Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) winner was assigned gate 10 in a full field of 14 for Sunday's HK$24-million BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin Racecourse. The winner of six of his eight local starts, California Spangle made all in the Feb. 27 Classic Cup, having endured a tough trip when second to Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) in the Hong Kong Classic Mile back in January. But jockey Zac Purton admits that...

Call Me Teddy (Uncle Mo), who won the Listed Doncaster S. when trained by Aidan O'Brien as Lipizzaner, is set to make his Hong Kong debut in Saturday's Class 3 Tai Mei Tuk H. over the straight 1000-metres at Sha Tin Racecourse. Bred in Kentucky by the Irish Lights Syndicate, the bay gelding was runner up in a paid of Naas maidens in the spring of 2020 before a low-odds fourth behind The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince of Lir {Ire}) and Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) in the G2 Norfolk S....