Hong Kong rises to the HKIR challenge again

HONG KONG • The Hong Kong Jockey Club's "can do" spirit and commitment have ensured another successful staging of the HK$100 million (S$17.5 million) Longines Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Its chief executive officer, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, saluted the world-class meeting, which saw four Group 1 titles shared between Japan and the host.

The turnover for the 10-race programme was another record - HK$1.728 billion.

On a day when the local pride and joy Golden Sixty charged into domestic racing history with a record 19th victory by retaining his HK$26 million Longines Hong Kong Mile crown, Engelbrecht-Bresges pointed to Hong Kong's ability to compete with the racing superpowers with much larger horse populations.

"Hong Kong has a horse population of 1,350 horses and we hold our own against the best in the world. We compete successfully against countries with a horse population of 8,000 or 14,000," he said. "It is something Hong Kong can be very proud of.

"Golden Sixty is an incredible horse and he again showed today what a phenomenal horse he is. Francis Lui (trainer) and Vincent Ho (jockey) have done an incredible job, and now he has bettered the record he shared with Beauty Generation and Silent Witness.

"Golden Sixty eclipsed world-class opposition to provide Hong Kong with pride and joy."

The reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year cruised up nicely on the rails from the rear and was already in contention at the top of the straight in the 1,600m race.

Once Ho managed to find daylight, his mount went into overdrive. He won by 13/4 lengths, easing up from fellow Hong Kong horse More Than This.

Japan's Salios, the pacemaker, finished third - the best of the five overseas runners.

Hong Kong's other HKIR win came from Sky Field, trained by Caspar Fownes and ridden by Blake Shinn, in the HK$24 million Longines Hong Kong Sprint over 1,200m.

Japan struck twice through Glory Vase in the HK$20 million Longines Hong Kong Vase over 2,400m and Loves Only You in the HK$30 million Longines Hong Kong Cup over 2,000m.

Both were no strangers to Hong Kong racegoers. It was Glory Vase's second triumph, having won the race in 2019. Loves Only You won the QEII Cup in April.

"Today is a day which had tremendous sporting success and this is something everybody in the club should be proud of," said Engelbrecht-Bresges.

"There are people you do not see who make a big commitment to the club and to this event. I am extremely grateful for their contributions and I commend them for their dedication.

"I also thank the government for trusting us to stage Longines HKIR in such trying circumstances. The closed-loop racing bubble has worked extremely well."

But, he added that as wonderful as the racing was on Sunday, the club also had the unfortunate and tragic circumstances in the Sprint.

Amazing Star, one of the leaders with Lyle Hewitson aboard, broke down at the home turn, taking along the favourite Lucky Patch (Zac Purton), Naboo Attack (Karis Teetan) and Japanese raider Pixie Knight (Yuichi Fukunaga).

Amazing Star and Naboo Attack had to be euthanised.

Purton, Hewitson and Fukunaga were all in stable condition after being taken to the nearby Prince of Wales hospital. Teetan managed to fulfil his remaining rides.

"Our thoughts are with the injured jockeys and we wish Zac Purton, Lyle Hewitson and Yuichi Fukunaga a speedy recovery," said Engelbrecht-Bresges.

"Nobody likes to see these accidents and the owners of the horses involved are also in our thoughts.

"If this incident did not happen, it would probably have been one of the greatest achievements of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, to pull something like this off.

"Sometimes you have setbacks and you have to overcome challenges, which we have always proven to do."

He thanked all the trainers and jockeys, especially from overseas, who have gone through tremendous sacrifices.

"I want to apologise to the owners, because when your horse runs you want to see it, but they still supported us, which shows that we have that trust," he said.

"For us it is extremely important that we stage this event, because if we had not staged it, you lose your spot in the world scene.

"We are extremely proud that we have achieved this, but there is definitely sadness which overruns everything."

HKJC