#Glory Vase

California Spangle, seen at trackwork Dec. 7, tackles champion Golden Sixty and some tough foreign competition in Sunday's Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club HONG KONG, Dec. 9 (UPI) -- The Longines Hong Kong International Races take center stage in weekend horse racing, with competition from around the globe…

It might sometimes be difficult to believe with the same stables dominating, but fairytales do still exist on the Flat and the story of Pyledriver is proof. Owners Guy and Hew Edwards had limited success in syndicates before purchasing La Pyle to race over hurdles. She beat just five horses home in her five starts for Philip Hobbs before she was…

A visit to the free-to-enter Hong Kong Racing Museum which overlooks the bend after the stands at Happy Valley racecourse gives an interesting insight into the sport's development in the former British colony. Racing in Hong Kong began as an amateur form of entertainment among the ex-pats in those colonial days but, for what remains a small-scale…

California Spangle holds off Golden Sixty in Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Mile Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club HONG KONG, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A super day for Hong Kong highlighted weekend horse racing with action-starved fans emerging from pandemic lockdowns to cheer on some new heroes from the Sha Tin Racecourse grandstand. Two-year-old filly…

The Hong Kong International Raceday has arrived with four Group Ones on the menu, highlighted by the HK$34million Longines Hong Kong Cup. Race 1 - Class 4 (1400m) The opener is a Class 4 over the 1400m and CIRCUIT MIGHTY (1) can just about make it back to back wins. The five-year-old has come back in good order this season and was too good for…

The good news for Japan is that there are no Croatian horses - or penalty shootouts - at this year's HKIR. The bad news is that Hong Kong (and perhaps Ireland) will provide stern opposition in Sunday's four G1 contests and now looks as good a time as any to allocate some Rising Sun Ratings on a scale of 1-3 for the key Japanese contenders. Set to…

It was an amazing finish to an extraordinary career. A storybook finish, a finish that seemed predestined to happen as the year marched on. And when the favorite Almond Eye, guided with supreme confidence by the brilliant Gallic equine conductor Christophe Lemaire, stormed past a field of 14 other horses in the 40th Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse on…

Frankie Dettori believes favourite Life Is Good will be a "very tough nut to crack" in the Dubai World Cup. The top jockey has f our rides on the Meydan card, including one of market leader's opponents Country Grammer. Dettori has won the $12 million race on Dubai Millennium (2000), Moon Ballad (2003) and Electrocutionist (2006). "The favourite,…

The 2000-meter Dubai World Cup concluded the day's festivities at Meydan Racecourse, with American trainer Bob Baffert's Country Grammer, ridden by Italian Frankie Dettori, securing a 1¾-length victory over Hot Rod Charlie in 2 minutes, 4.97 seconds. Country Grammer returned to competition after a nine-month layoff following the Saudi Cup in…

Rich Strike, seen posing the morning after his Kentucky Derby win, returns in Saturday's Grade I Clark Stakes with a chance to stake a claim for year-end honors. Photo courtesy of Churchill Downs Nov. 25 (UPI) -- It's getting to be crunch time for horses who seek year-end honors, and this weekend's Clark Stakes at Churchill Downs provides one of…

There are a few names familiar to American racegoers that are heading to Hong Kong for the international raceday next month. Most are from Ireland. The foreign challenge for the four rich turf races includes a quartet from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle team, all of whom have run in the United States. Heading O'Brien's team is the shock 2020 Breeders'…

Contrail looked a monster at two and could become one of the stars of the Japanese spring Unlike many other major northern hemisphere racing and breeding nations, Japan has thus far been able to keep its Graded race programme intact in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. With the sport continuing minus its passionate on-course chorus of fans,…

There aren't many racedays around the world that match Hong Kong International Day. Perhaps only Dubai World Cup Day, Royal Ascot, Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe Day, and the Breeders' Cup are as strong a magnet for international horses as the four Group 1 races up for grabs here. Hong Kong racing has also become much stronger over the years. Horses…

It's all over for another year - but what did we learn from this year's Longines Hong Kong International Races? We learned that Golden Sixty remains among the most destructive finishers on the planet and it will be fascinating to see whether he ends the year rated upsides Baaeed and Palace Pier as world's best miler. The Sprint pile-up showed that…

The weekly TRC industry digest - a round-up of the international racing news from the past week. Europe: David Elsworth, one of the UK's finest dual-purpose trainers, has brought the curtain down on a career spanning 50 years, which will remembered mainly for his handling of the great Desert Orchid, one of the most popular racehorses in British…

Joao Moreira and Beat The Clock have teamed up to win Sunday's International Sprint at Hong Kong's Sha Tin after Australia's group 1 winner In Her Time was scratched. On Saturday, it was announced that the Kris Lees-trained mare sustained a quarter crack in her near left front foot and would undergo a veterinary examination the following…

Japan has been trying to win the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for over fifty years. The country's first runner was Speed Symboli who finished out of contention in 1969. 30 years later, El Condor Pasa was beaten half-a-length into second by Montjeu in Europe's premier all-aged contest. . Nakayama Festa was beaten by just a head into second in 2010. In…