Hong Kong: What happened last weekend?
Updated: Jan 3
What is the Hong Kong International?
1989 was the inaugurual running of the Hong Kong Cup, and in 1991 further G1 races were added to the card, creating Hong Kong's signature raceday: the internationally broadcast Hong Kong International Races, with a total purse of HK$110m. The meeting, held at Sha Tin, comes a few days after Hong Kong's smaller racecourse, Happy Valley, hosts the International Jockeys' Championship. Here, riders from across the world compete for the trophy in four handicaps (two sprints, two miles), accumulating points from their placings. With 12 points to his name, this year saw Britain's Tom Marquand share the prize with Silvestre de Sousa.
Who won this year's races?
Sunday's feature race, the Hong Kong Cup, went the way of James McDonald, the New Zealand jockey onboard Hong Kong's shining star, Romantic Warrior. Romantic Warrior, who's trained by Danny Shum Chap-shing, now remains virtually unbeaten (his only slip up in February's Hong Kong Classic Cup, where he finished fourth on the same course to California Sprangle). California Sprangle was also in action on Sunday, taking the Hong Kong Mile by a neck from Golden Sixty. Elsewhere, the appropriately named Glory Vase was set to take home the Hong Kong Vase, but lost out, with a third to Botanik and Japanese competitor Win Marilyn, the mount of Australian jockey Damian Lane. That followed drama in the stalls, as Rene Piechulek's mount, Mendocino, reared and refused to race. British raider Ryan Moore followed up his Japan Cup success, riding Wellington to victory in the Hong Kong Sprint.