Hong Kong International Races High on Quality

All four winners of last year's edition of the Longines Hong Kong International Races are slated to return for this year's renewal of the major year-end contests, headlining races that feature 26 grade or group I winners expected to be part of the Dec. 11 card at Sha Tin.

Japan's star runners Maurice and A Shin Hikari, Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (gr. IT) winner Highland Reel, and Hong Kong's Peniaphobia are expected for the blockbuster lineup that includes the Longines Hong Kong Cup (HK-I), the Longines Hong Kong Mile (HK-I), the Longines Hong Kong Sprint (HK-I) and the Longines Hong Kong Vase (HK-I). With 28 overseas runners and 28 Hong Kong representatives, horses from nine international jurisdictions are set to compete.

 

Maurice won an epic edition of last year's Hong Kong Mile and will return this time to attempt a rare double in what is shaping up to be a stellar edition of the Hong Kong Cup over 2,000 meters. Jim And Tonic took the same route in 1998 and 1999 and is the only horse to have achieved victory in two different HKIR contests.

 

Japan's 2015 Horse of the Year is 2-for-2 at Sha Tin, having carried off the Champions Mile (HK-I) in May. Trainer Noriyuki Hori's superstar bounced back from two defeats to slam a top-class field in October's Tenno Sho (Autumn) - a fifth group I triumph and first win at 2,000 meters.

 

Maurice is set to lead a record 13-strong Japanese contingent at the International Races and is one of 10 grade/group I winners among the 14 selected runners for the Cup. A Shin Hikari dominated last year's race with a stunning front-running display and topped the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings this spring after an easy victory in France's Prix d'Ispahan (Fra-I). Japan's strong hand in the race also includes the JRA's 2015 2,000 meters champion Lovely Day, Queens Ring, and the high-class Staphanos.

 

Able Friend is one of 14 selected for the Hong Kong Mile. John Moore's stable star was imperious in winning the 2014 edition but Maurice was a shade too good for him in 2015. After returning from injury, he aims to become the first horse to regain the Mile title. Also set against him is three-time group I winner Logotype.

  

This year's Hong Kong Sprint (14 selected) features a home team packed with talent.  Aerovelocity won the Hong Kong Sprint in 2014 and, after missing last year's race, will aim to emulate former world champion sprinter Sacred Kingdom (2007 and 2009), the only horse to date to have regained the Hong Kong Sprint title. He will face familiar foes in last year's winner Peniaphobia, Not Listenin'tome and the rising star of the Hong Kong sprinting ranks, Lucky Bubbles.

 

Highland Reel is heading back to Sha Tin in an attempt to become the third dual winner of the Hong Kong Vase in the race's 22-year history (Luso, 1996 and 1997; Doctor Dino, 2007 and 2008). The 4-year-old is perhaps the world's most widely travelled top-class racehorse of recent times, having contested 14 grade/group I contests in seven international jurisdictions since May, 2015, winning four and placing second in October's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I)

 

The Irish star is slated to face 13 others in the Vase this time, including the UK's popular stayer Big Orange and the classy Smart Layer. 

 

"All four of the 2015 champions are set to compete again and the home team will have its work cut out to better the one win achieved last time around," said Anthony Kelly, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director, Racing Business and Operations. "It is particularly exciting to see Maurice's connections sportingly opting to take on the challenge of the Cup rather than the Mile this time. The Longines Hong Kong International Races is global horseracing at its best."