Doubted debutant sparks drought-breaking double for 11-time champion trainer John Size

Ryan Moore will chase back-to-back Group One Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) victories aboard Wellington six months after having his nose bloodied by the star speedster at Royal Ascot. A four-time Group One winner for former trainer Richard Gibson, Wellington is now under the care of New Zealander Jamie Richards. Richards confirmed on Sunday that…

All For St Paul's delivered a stunning blow against a quality field in Wednesday night's HK$3.12 million Class 2 Hebe Hill Handicap (1650m) at Sha Tin. Sent to his customary leading position by jockey Matthew Poon, a tenacious All For St Paul's routed the opposition to grab an eighth Hong Kong win and third in the grade, lifting his all-time…

California Spangle joined Beauty Generation as a back-to-back Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1600m) champion on Sunday as his new rider, Hugh Bowman, completed his second Hong Kong four-timer and his former rider, Zac Purton, attracted a pointed assessment from the winner's trainer, Tony Cruz. Bowman, who also rode Kyrus Unicorn, Summit Cheers and Noble…

Zac Purton has been replaced aboard Group One star California Spangle, with trainer Tony Cruz opting to lock in Hugh Bowman rather than wait for the reigning champion jockey. Purton partnered California Spangle in all eight of his starts last season, with their four victories for the campaign including success in the Group One Hong Kong…

The 2022/23 racing season might have come to a close but it is a season that will live long in the minds of racing fans. Hong Kong racing celebrated coming out of the pandemic lockdown with a bang, once more hosting a number of prominent international races and eminent jockeys, horses and their trainers. Fans were no doubt ecstatic to witness…

Only Lucky Sweynesse, Beauty Eternal and Victor The Winner have won more Sha Tin races this season than Erimo, and none of those gallopers has shown more durability or versatility than John Size's runner in Sunday's Class Two Lek Yuen Handicap (1400m). Erimo, this term triumphant on Sha Tin's turf track over 1400m twice and victorious on the New…

It takes a special kind of person to enjoy riding Beauty Joy. However, Hugh Bowman loves the challenge - perhaps Hong Kong racing's toughest individual assignment - of getting the best out of Sunday's Group Three Lion Rock Trophy (1600m) top weight. Half a dozen jockeys have attempted to win Hong Kong races aboard six-year-old galloper Beauty Joy,…

John Size rated Tuchel's winning performance in the Class Two Para Sports Coach Handicap (1600m) at Sha Tin on Sunday as the best run of his career that has included a couple of Classic Series silver medals. Carrying 134 pounds and chasing much lighter-weighted Flaming Rabbit, who bounded away from the rest of the field at the halfway mark, Tuchel…

He might be a four-time Group One winner and the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup's defending champion, but Wellington is poised to start the clear outsider of the three heavy hitters in Hong Kong's sole elite-level 1400m race. Rated a $7.50 chance by overseas fixed-odds bookmakers, Wellington tackles fellow Group One winners California Spangle ($1.72)…

Caspar Fownes, the trainer widely known as the King of the Valley, is odds on to join Danny Shum Chap-shing as the most frequent DBS x Manulife Million Challenge-winning handler on Wednesday night. Happy Valley specialist Fownes - no one has trained more winners at the city circuit this season than the four-time champion handler - will equal Shum's…

The DBS x Manulife Million Challenge will conclude next Wednesday night (8 February) after kicking off on 14 September last year, while victory tomorrow would see the bay earn 15 points and secure outright top spot ahead of Nearly Fine (53 points), Street Scream (45), Yo Beauty (42), California Deeply (36) and Comet Splendido (36). The competition…

Zac Purton will ride Classic Mile runner-up Tuchel in next month's Classic Cup. Tuchel finished a length and a quarter behind winner Voyage Bubble under Luke Currie at Sha Tin on Sunday, with Purton a further length and a half behind in third aboard Packing Treadmill in a slowly run race in which the victor led throughout. Connections have…

While it was Jamie Kah who plundered the most Hong Kong riches with her Classic Mile success, the other overseas stars who jetted in for Sunday's Stewards' Cup meeting certainly didn't miss out. New Zealander James McDonald - who won the Hong Kong Cup last month aboard Romantic Warrior - was first to get in on the act, landing his longest-priced…

Chinese New Year Raceday at Sha Tin today has generated the highest level of betting turnover since 1997, with over 80000 punters in attendance contributing to a total of HK$2060 million (approx. £214m). With an overall attendance of 84394, the highest since COVID restrictions began in 2020, turnover was notably up on the £176.2m bet at the…

A prolific winner with four wins from eight starts, Tuchel - trained by John Size - made his Class 2 debut a winning one after enduring a tough, three-wide passage from gate 14 before extending to score by half a length over fellow four-year-old Galaxy Witness. "I knew he had that ability but whether he was going to be able to produce that today,…

Lucky Sweynesse's atypically fast exit from the gates contributed to his Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) defeat, but Zac Purton would love Manfred Man Ka-leung's stable star to make a quick getaway from the outside barrier in Sunday's Group Three Chinese Club Challenge Cup (1400m) at Sha Tin.

Gun English jockey Ryan Moore will ride Wellington in next month's Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), with trainer Richard Gibson confirming his stable star is on track for the international races. Wellington pulled up lame after a disappointing sixth in the Group Two Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) on November 20 but Gibson is pleased with how his…

Apprentice jockey Angus Chung Yik-lai enjoyed "the best day of my career" at Sha Tin on Saturday, his first Hong Kong double coming aboard a three year-old debutant who almost set a class record and a six-year-old veteran who established a new mark. Chung made all on Tony Cruz-trained newcomer Superb Capitalist in the Class Four Panashop Handicap…

Sweet Encounter and Alexis Badel, a horse and jockey with contrasting form figures, hope to play major parts in Saturday's Class Three Panasonic Nanoe x Thermo Ventilator Handicap (1400m) at Sha Tin. One of six last-start winners in the card-closing race, Sweet Encounter surprised punters when he led all the way under Badel to win his debut…

Lucky Sweynesse must make history and break what has become something of a hoodoo if Manfred Man Ka-leung's stable star is to win the Group Two Premier Bowl (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday. No Group debutant has won any of the 17 previous runnings of the handicap that has risen steadily in status from no black type in 2005, to Hong Kong Group Three in…

The numbers game is what keeps the world's greatest sportspeople coming back for more, even though their battered bodies would love them to quit and their accumulated assets would enable them to retire. For Tiger Woods, it is Jack Nicklaus' 18 major championships. For Novak Djokovic, it is Rafael Nadal's 22 grand slam singles titles. For Zac…

On an incredible day, Purton's career-high of seven was underscored by Harry Bentley's treble on the 10-race card, while Benno Yung took training honours with a treble from Danny Shum and John Size, who both notched doubles. But it was the'Purton Show' with his three unplaced rides - Campione (fourth), All Is Good (fourth) and The Irishman (fifth)…

Tony Cruz says California Spangle is more likely to target Group One glory over six furlongs than a mile later this year, but the Celebration Cup favourite's connections will reserve judgment until after their resuming star contests the season's first Group race at Sha Tin on Sunday. Win or lose, California Spangle will come to a fork in the road…

Beauty Joy ignited Sha Tin with a booming finish to land the Group Three Premier Cup (1400m) as Zac Purton landed a much-needed blow in the title race on Sunday afternoon. Backers who had sent off the Tony Cruz-trained Beauty Joy at odds of $2 could have been forgiven for tearing up their tickets after a couple of hundred metres, with the…

Zac Purton says his $1.20 hotpot Exultant fell victim to a severe lack of pace and a bad barrier in Sunday's Group One Hong Kong Gold Cup. The champion jockey was left with few options from barrier nine, jumping from the tricky 2000m Sha Tin start, and admits he knew he was in trouble 800m in when Joao Moreira was left to dictate proceedings on…