Hong Kong

Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and a team of five from Ballydoyle headed by defending G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase hero Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) are among a list of 49 world-class gallopers that have been extended invitations to the 2021 Longines Hong Kong International Races to be staged Sunday, Dec. 12, at Sha Tin Racecourse. Some 22 of the invitees have already struck at Group 1/Grade I level. Following her history-making performance in the GI Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar Nov....

Having passed the potentially gut-busting early-season group handicaps, where he'd have been forced to concede plenty of weight, reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) makes his much-anticipated 6-year-old debut in Sunday's G2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile at Sha Tin Racecourse. By all accounts, it is a much more mature version of Golden Sixty, who was last seen taking out the G1 FWD Champions Mile nearly seven months ago to run his winning streak to 14, three wins shy of the record held...

Eight high-profile overseas jockeys will join four Hong Kong-based riders to compete for the HK$500,000 top prize in the Longines International Jockeys' Championship to be held at the iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island Wednesday, Dec. 8. Ryan Moore is set to jet in to make a 15th appearance at the IJC, having dead-heated for the spoils with John Murtagh and Christophe Lemaire in 2009 before winning the title outright 12 months hence. Moore, who has finished on the podium four times since his most recent victory, currently...

'TDN Rising Star' Nervous Witness (Aus) (Star Witness {Aus}), who has seen his rating soar by 28 points in his first two career trips to the post, carries 133 pounds as the top-weight in Sunday's Suisse Programme H., a Class 3 test over the straight 1000 metres Sunday afternoon at Sha Tin Racecourse. Owned by Archie, Betty and Teresa Marie da Silva and campaigned in the green-and-black colours of the legendary Silent Witness (Aus) (El Moxie), the 4-year-old gelding was the $13 (3-10) favourite on debut Sept. 5, scoring by...

With a record HK$100 million available across the four tests that comprise the Longines Hong Kong International Races, some 135 horses from all corners of the globe--including a whopping 57 that have already struck at Group 1/Grade I level--have been entered for the 'Turf World Championships,' to be held Sunday, Dec. 12 at Sha Tin Racecourse. Despite the ongoing complications caused by the COVID-19 pandemic--the staging of the Longines HKIR is officially subject to the approval of the HKSAR Government--fully 90 entries were received from the connections of overseas runners,...

by Alan Carasso Crushed at the tills into $12 (1-5) favourtism to build on a smashing debut effort Sept. 5, Nervous Witness (Aus) (Star Witness {Aus}) absorbed plenty of mid-race heat, but responded to that challenge to annex a Class 3 event over the Sha Tin straight 1000 metres by 3 3/4 lengths, becoming the second Hong Kong 'TDN Rising Star' Friday afternoon. Drawn high towards the stands'-side rail, Nervous Witness was away alertly, but was pressed to his outside by Brilliant Fortune (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}), with a sectional...

The 2020/2021 racing season in Hong Kong concluded July 14, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club reporting turnover in excess of HK$130 billion (£12.1b/€14.2b/US$16.7b) for the first time. A total of 88 meetings--one more than last season--were conducted between September and July, with no programs lost to the coronavirus. The HKJC staged 835 races at Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses, and took 206 races from overseas for simulcasting purposes. Total turnover was HK$136 billion, representing a 12.1% increase over last season. The HKJC is the single largest taxpayer in...

Having secured champion 4-year-old honours in 2019-2020, courtesy of his sweep of the local Triple Crown, Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) capped a perfect 5-year-old campaign by being named the Horse of the Year in Hong Kong during ceremonies held Tuesday evening at Happy Valley Racecourse. Bred in Queensland by Asco International Pty Ltd., Golden Sixty--an A$120,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast yearling turned NZ$300,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run breezer, took his overall winning streak to 14 during the season and to 17 from 18 overall, using his trademark...

Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}--Contrary {Ire}, by Mark of Esteem {Ire}), arguably the best stayer to be based in Hong Kong and the jurisdiction's Horse of the Year in 2019-2020, has been officially retired from racing, according to information on the Hong Kong Jockey Club website. Bred by Belinda Strudwick's Co. Kilkenny-based Ballygallon Stud, Exultant was raced by his breeder as Irishcorrespondent in Europe and was trained by Mick Halford to a third-place effort behind Churchill (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in unsuitably soft ground in the...

Exultant (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) was a well-backed third in the 2018 BMW Hong Kong Derby before winning the G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup H. and finishing runner-up in the G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup. Three years on, South American import Panfield (Chi) (Lookin At Lucky), who racked up a trio of top-level successes on home soil prior to his sale to Hong Kong, outran odds of 25-1 to complete the tierce in this year's Derby and was only fifth to Butterfield (Brz) (Setembro Chove {Brz}) in the Queen...

On this day 12 months ago, jockey Vincent Ho guided Southern Legend (Aus) (Not A Single Doubt {Aus}) to an upset victory in the FWD Champions Mile, his first Group 1 score some 10 years removed from being named the champion apprentice rider in Hong Kong and about a month after throwing Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) across the line first in the prestigious BMW Hong Kong Derby. Sunday's FWD Champions Day program at Sha Tin, attended by the biggest on-track crowd since COVID-19 took hold last year, marked a...

Japanese-based gallopers have left their mark on FWD Champions Day at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse, and as many as five raiders from the nearby island nation will attempt to continue that trend this weekend in front of as many as 6,000 racegoers as COVID restrictions ease in the region. The day's richest event at HK$25 million is the G1 FWD QE II Cup (2000mT), in which Japan owns four of the seven entries with a cloud hanging over the participation of 2019 G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase hero Glory...