Viddora cleared to run in Chairman's Sprint Prize

There are still four meetings to go in the 2022-23 Hong Kong racing season and plenty to unfold in the way of milestones and records, but with the term's Group racing done and dusted, we take a look at who came to the fore in the city's biggest races. Zac Purton has dominated just about every riding metric this season, but his decision to partner…

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,…

History is there for the taking for Golden Sixty and Wellington at Sha Tin on Sunday, but a quick glance back through the record books shows just how difficult the task is they're trying to achieve. Golden Sixty has won more races and prize money than any other Hong Kong-trained horse, but he's never won the same Group One race three times. He's a…

Hugh Bowman will reunite with the John Size-trained Courier Wonder for the Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) on Champions Day, opting for the local galloper over Hugo Palmer's raider, Flaming Rib. While the ride aboard Flaming Rib was available, Bowman stuck with the Group One placegetter and jumps back aboard after having to relinquish the…

Manfred Ma Ka-leung will let Sunday's Group One Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup (1400m) winner Lucky Sweynesse attempt to become the first sprinter to win all three races that comprise Hong Kong's Speed Series in the same year since Silent Witness before he plots an overseas raid with his best-ever horse. Lucky Sweynesse parlayed his Group One Centenary…

It might not quite be the "race of the decade" like last weekend's Stewards' Cup, but Sunday's Group One Centenary Sprint Cup (1200m) is not far behind in terms of significance. Wellington has the opportunity to enter some rare air by adding a Centenary Sprint Cup to his victories in the Chairman's Sprint Prize (2021 and 2022), Queen's Silver…

Veteran sprint star Mr Stunning is being retired from racing after his brilliant win in Sunday's Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m) at Sha Tin. The seven-year-old will bow out a three-time Group One winner with more than HK$60 million in prize money to his name. His trainer Frankie Lor Fu-chuen confirmed the retirement on Monday, telling…

Hong Kong race fans are probably the most enthusiastic punters in the world, but as well as the massive betting handle that Sunday's excellent 10-race card at Sha Tin will generate, there's an even bigger focus of attention in reigning Horse of the Year Beauty Generation. The John Moore-trained gelding has dominated the mile division over the past…

Beauty Generation, shown during morning track work Thursday, is one of many headliners on the Champions Day program Sunday at Hong Kong's Sha Tin Racecourse. Photo courtesy of Hong Kong Jockey Club April 24 (UPI) -- With much of the world's horse racing still out of action because of the coronavirus, Hong Kong steps up this weekend with a trio of…

Sha Tin: FWD Champions Mile (Group 1) 1m, 3yo+ Beauty Generation enjoyed nothing more strenuous than the equivalent of a morning workout to repeat last year's success, coming home a length and a half clear of Singapore Sling, and in the process beating Hong Kong records for the highest career prize-money, and the biggest winning sequence in a…

Nash Rawiller: implicated in betting scandal Preparations for one of Hong Kong's biggest race meetings of the season, Sunday's inaugural Champions Day at Sha Tin, have been rocked by the announcement on Wednesday that jockey Nash Rawiller has been banned for 15 months after being implicated in a betting-related scandal. Australian Rawiller, 43, who…

Top Australian jockey Nash Rawiller has been banned for 15 months after Hong Kong Jockey Club stewards charged him with accepting money or gifts in return for race tips. The jockey was charged at a Jockey Club hearing at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday morning and was given two 15-month bans that will be served concurrently. Rawiller was…

The Sprint Cup and the Chairman's Trophy are the designated lead-ups to the three spring Group Ones on April 29 but how well those results might be replicated in three weeks' time is up for argument. Although the April 29 meeting has been called by the Jockey Club as Champions Day, we're not actually running with that. The marketing team should be…

As the usual round of big-race decisions rapidly approach for Joao Moreira, Neil Callan's win on Beauty Only was a reminder that being without a seat when the music stops isn't always the worst place to be in this game of musical chairs. Sometimes Hong Kong racing's jockey merry-go-round just doesn't matter and for all of the decisions Moreira has…

Let's Go Donki's connections are desperate to give their mare another chance in Hong Kong but she needs a big run in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen to earn a place in next month's Group One Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin. A slow start ruined Let's Go Donki's chances in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint but a closer look reveals her unplaced effort was…

The last time Peniaphobia raced at Group Two level over 1200m he dominated from in front and jockey Neil Callan believes the Tony Cruz-trained six-year-old can do the same in Sunday's Group Two Sprint Cup at Sha Tin. Peniaphobia turned around what had been a mixed start to the season with an all-the-way victory in the Group Two Centenary Sprint…

HORSE racing in Hong Kong is big business and the ever-growing industry is consistently setting betting records with every season. The locals love a punt which create big betting pools for the rest of the world, which includes Australia where Hong Kong racing is booming on all levels. The increased interest for carnivals such as the International…

Despite the success of the newly internationalised Chairman's Sprint Prize on Champions Mile day, the Jockey Club has no plans to tinker with the current format in an effort to replicate the December meeting. To have winners from Australia, Japan and Hong Kong in the three Group Ones is a great testament to the international nature of the…

To our dear friends at the Singapore Turf Club, I, The Griffin, am writing this letter to thank you for what now appears to be one of the most short-sighted and stunning decisions made in world racing in the past 12 months, one that has had immeasurable benefits to your arch-rivals to the north. Of course, it is seven months since you made the…

With overseas victories in the 2015 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen in Japan and in the G1 KrisFlyer International Sprint in Singapore, Aerovelocity (NZ) (Pins {Aus}) stood to earn a US$1-million bonus if he could successfully defend his title in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint last month. But fate intervened, as the talented short-tracker was knocked…

Australia's Santa Ana Lane has drawn the outside barrier in a field of 10 for his assignment in the Chairman's Sprint Prize in Hong Kong. The Anthony Freedman-trained gelding is one of the leading contenders for Sunday's 1200m-Group One sprint with Australia's other representative Viddora to start from seven. Viddora is still being monitored after…

Following his outstanding run in the Hong Kong Mile last year, Annabel Neasham's Laws Of Indices is set to return to Sha Tin for the prestigious Champions Day event next month. The international meeting features three Group 1 races: the QEII Cup (2000m), Champions Mile (1600m), and Chairman's Sprint Prize (1200m). Neasham's stable also includes…

Australian jockey Zac Purton, a five-time premiership winner in Hong Kong, has announced that a decision regarding his future in horse racing will be made next week, following Sunday's Champions Day meeting in Hong Kong. Purton's recent Group 1 success in Sydney has sparked rumors of a potential permanent return to his home country. "We've had some…