Moore Wastes No Time In Six-Week Hong Kong Stint; Captures Group 1 Classic Mile

A former Hong Kong horse and people connected to the city were central to the storybook ending of Australian jockey Damien Oliver's illustrious career on Saturday. Munhamek, who competed in Hong Kong as Hall Of Champ and won up to Class Three level before Caspar Fownes retired him in January 2022, won the A$1.5 million (HK$7.5 million) Group Three…

Junko won the slowest-ever Group One Longines Hong Kong Vase (2400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday when Andre Fabre and Maxime Guyon, the trainer and rider who combined with Flintshire in 2014, also contributed to the end of France's nine-year wait for its 15th victory at the city's marquee meeting. Remarkably, Junko's one-length defeat of Japanese stayer…

Horse racing's world number one trainer and jockey have a runner in each of Hong Kong's four richly endowed international races at Sha Tin on Sunday Aidan O'Brien; bidding for glory in Hong Kong Aidan O'Brien has never assembled a stronger quartet of horses to compete at the Longines Hong Kong International Races. The Ballydoyle trainer has three…

Aidan O'Brien has never assembled a stronger quartet of horses to compete at the Longines Hong Kong International Races. The Ballydoyle trainer has three victories to his name, each of them gained in the Hong Kong Vase. This year he has all bases loaded as he tries to complete a sweep of the Vase, Sprint, Mile and Cup. Often an afterthought at the…

Ryan Moore will be on duty for Aidan O'Brien when racing's dominant partnership aim to finish 2023 on a high at Sunday's International Carnival in Hong Kong. Although a back injury ruled Moore out of the recent Japan Cup in Tokyo, the English jockey returns to action for an international riders' competition at the Happy Valley track in Hong Kong on…

It's Frankie Dettori's Royal Ascot farewell but former Hong Kong-based Irishman Neil Callan stole the show early on the first day, standing tall and roaring with delight after taking out the opening race of the carnival aboard long-shot Triple Time. Callan, who wound up his Hong Kong stint at the end of the 2020-21 season, shocked punters in the…

The general sentiment around Hong Kong's Dubai World Cup night contingent has been one of hope rather than expectation, but the honest Sight Success has a few people talking ahead of Saturday's showcase at Meydan. While Japanese megastar Equinox and American dirt monster Country Grammer - the reigning Dubai World Cup champion and favourite to…

An all-the-way winner of January's Hong Kong Classic Mile under a perfectly rationed ride from the visiting Jamie Kah, Voyage Bubble (Aus) (Deep Field {Aus}) capitulated without much of a fight after leading through the opening mile of the Hong Kong Classic Cup, fading into sixth behind Super Sunny Sing (Aus) (Nicconi {Aus}). When connections…

Starting at 45/1 and from the outside barrier of 14, Voyage Bubble became the Classic's longest-priced winner since Ivan Allan's Holy Grail triumphed at 98/1 in 1999 after an audacious ride by Badel, who lost the ride on star sprinter Wellington in the day's other feature, the G1 Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m). Despite winning the first leg of…

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)…

The globe-trotting, champion jockey Ryan Moore has not only virtually done it all … but he just continues to ride winners on the biggest stage time after time after time. No surprise then that Moore landed a winner when he rode the Richard Gibson trained Wellington to a dominant win in the HK$24 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin on…

Zac Purton: claimed the Hong Kong Vase with California Spangle California Spangle denied Golden Sixty a third success in the Longines Hong Kong Mile, with the odds-on favourite beaten by a masterful tactical ride from Zac Purton at Sha Tin. With Golden Sixty in his usual midfield position, Purton pressed ahead on the Tony Cruz-trained runner from…

Dubai Honour: beaten at Royal Ascot but has come a long way since Dubai Honour suffered a handicap defeat off a mark of 91 on his first start of the year and ends it 30lb higher in the world's richest 1m2f turf race, but quick conditions - according to his camp - at Sha Tin may reduce his chances in Sunday's Longines Hong Kong Cup (8.30). The…

Vindicating Aidan O'Brien's long-held faith, Mogul has emphatically underlined claims as heir apparent to Ballydoyle's throne after claiming victory in the HK$20 million LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m). Providing Aidan O'Brien's third triumph in the race, adding to Highland Reel's 2015 and 2017 wins, Mogul downed Hong Kong champion Exultant and…

Will Zac Purton and Beauty Generation be celebrating after Sunday's Champions Mile? Will Sunday's Champions Mile be the last time Hong Kong punters see star performer Beauty Generation? Beauty Generation is one of 10 entries for the Champions Mile. The John Moore -trained galloper will attempt to win the Group I event for the third straight…

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…

At just 14 years of age, Zac Purton made a decision that would change his life. He decided to skip school for a day. "I jumped at the opportunity," Purton recalls with a cheeky smile. Instead of walking through the gates of Coffs Harbour High, the schoolboy went to an RSL club for a jockey recruitment seminar. Not long after, before finishing year…

Addressing your thoughts, questions and statements about Hong Kong racing. Have something to say? Send a tweet to @SCMPRacingPost. John Moore was smiling like the Cheshire Cat in the aftermath of Aethero's stunning victory at Sha Tin on Saturday. Not only did the boom three-year-old justify all the hype with a track-record breaking performance and…

John Moore thinks a wet track will help the chances of Hong Kong raider in Sunday's Takarazuka Kinen, but star jockey Christophe Lemaire is hoping for the opposite to get the best out of favourite Satono Diamond. The Group One is one of two "all-star" races in Japan each year, alongside December's Arima Kinen, with fans voting for their favourite…

Werther, a former Hong Kong Horse of the Year, wins Sunday's Jockey Club Cup at Sha Tin, setting himself as the local favorite for the Group 1 Longines Hong Kong Cup Dec. 10 against international rivals. Photo courtesy of HKJC Weekend Thoroughbred action centered on Asia as Persian Knight, a 3-year-old son of a rising sire, won the Mile…

A rain-soaked afternoon in the New Territories could not forestall history, as Rapper Dragon (Aus) (Street Boss) became the first horse to sweep the 4-year-old Classic series with a convincing defeat of his emerging rival and' TDN Rising Star' Pakistan Star (Ger) (Shamardal) in Sunday's BMW Hong Kong Derby. The win was the sixth in the Derby for…

We hear Brazil will be looking for a new president later this year. Well, look no further: we might have just the man the embattled country needs right here in Hong Kong racing, an environment where a jockey's political manoeuvring and people pleasing play as big a part as on-track skill. The campaign is already taking shape. "Vote one: Joao…

News came this week that Tepin, the winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile last year may be Royal Ascot bound this summer. If she continues to do as well as she has done, her trainer Mark Casse believes we could be able to witness her fine form this side of the Atlantic at Royal Ascot in June. Tepin has been reported to be in good order after winning her…

In a winter hibernation since the excitement of last month's Longines Hong Kong International Races? Never fear, we get it. There hasn't been much to get excited about since A Shin Hikari & Co lit up Sha Tin on December 14. Good news: this Sunday's meeting at Sha Tin marks the start of a succession of regular feature races that stretches right…

So who is the real Beast from the East now? Much to the disappointment of the home fans, the title changed hands in a Sha Tin showstopper yesterday as Japanese star Maurice climbed off the canvas to better Able Friend and take the mantle as Asia's best miler. When Able Friend went three parts of a length up on me, I just couldn't go with the big…