Longines and the IFHA to present this prestigious global racing award in Hong Kong. It will add gloss to our flagship international race week and further exemplified the status of our International week in the global racing calendar.
Jockeys will receive points whenever they finish in the top three in any of the World’s Top 100 Group 1 races, as established for the year by the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. That Top 100 list includes Hong Kong’s six existing international G1 races, and the scoring will incorporate all races from 1 December last year, until 30 November this year. The results so far show that internationally-renowned riders Joseph O’Brien, Christophe Soumillon and Ryan Moore are the top three jockeys in the current standings.
If you glance a little way further down the list, you will see names of locally-based jockeys including Zac Purton, Joao Moreira and Douglas Whyte. This trio, as well as Nash Rawiller and Andrea Atzeni, who will both be riding in Hong Kong very soon, are all ranked among the top 20 in the current list. Zac Purton is high up in 5th position, thanks to his victory on Dominant in last year’s LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, as well as his two G1 wins on Sacred Falls in Australia - the Doncaster Mile in April and last Saturday’s George Main Stakes at Randwick.
It will be tough for Zac to close the gap to those jockeys at the top of the table before the current competition ends on 30 November, but regardless of that, the strong presence of these Club jockeys in the international rankings again reflects the current strength of our world-class jockey line-up in Hong Kong. Such high quality makes for a very competitive environment and that definitely enhances the sport’s appeal, as it increases the excitement levels and the enjoyment for racing fans.
That excitement can be experienced this evening at Sha Tin when we stage an eight race card. Following his triumphant return from Australia, Zac was not able to land a winner last Sunday so he will be aiming to regain the winning thread with seven rides tonight. I know he will be keen to avoid a situation where Joao further extends his lead at the top of the table. Joao, on the other hand, who has won the Jockey Challenge in all three race meetings so far this season, will of course try to maintain his winning trend. It should be interesting to see how they both perform tonight.
Tonight’s seventh race, the Lung Hang Handicap, is one of the three races tonight to be run on turf. With the late opening of Happy Valley this season, the Tracks team and the Race Planning team have worked together to programme mixed meetings on Wednesday nights to better serve our customers. Hong Kong racing will return to its normal routine when Happy Valley reopens on Sunday, 19 October.
This Class 3 1400m event features the promising newcomer So Caffe, a stylish debut winner for trainer Sean Woods on 1 July when outclassing a field of 13 Griffins to win easily. This will be a tougher test tonight but he has been working forwardly and is a solid place chance. Reborn To Win is a win and place chance for me as he continues to improve. He won his last two races last season in Class 4 over the course and distance, but it was his sensational trial two weeks ago that sent a strong message that he is ready to handle the rise in grade. It was one of the best trials of the month and he figures to be doing his best running in the straight for jockey Joao Moreira.
Ka Ying Kid, very consistent in his recent form over the course and distance, has won two straight and will carry top-weight tonight. He and Mighty K, as ridden by Neil Callan who has seven rides tonight to begin his season, are both place chances.
Ho Lee Horse will make his first start in Hong Kong after winning his only race in England by ten lengths over a synthetic surface. This is an interesting horse to watch this season but he may not be at his best tonight due to the extended time of nine months between races.
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