Bowman Wins Hong Kong Jockey Championship

Australian Hugh Bowman won the Longines International Jockeys' Championship Dec. 7 at Happy Valley in Hong Kong as the sole American-based contestant, Florent Geroux, finished off the board.

 

Bowman won the first leg of the four-race competition and finished second in the third leg—good for 18 points. England's Ryan Moore, who on Friday will be honored as the Longines World's Best Jockey on the basis on 12 months' work, finished second with 14 points after winning the second race in the competition.

 

Mirco Demuro, representing Italy, and Japan's Keita Tosaki won the third and fourth races and finished tied for third with 12 points apiece.

 

Geroux finished second in the first leg of the series. He was assigned by random draw the heavy favorite in the third leg, Works of Art. That mount, however, came wide around the final turn over the quirky Happy Valley track and, despite a late run, could only muster a dead heat for third, giving Geroux a total of 8 points, good for a tie for fifth place.

 

Bowman, a three-time champion jockey in Sydney, has ridden 51 group I winners, including most of Australia's top races. His initial reaction appeared to be relief rather than excitement at his victory.

"I thought in the last either I had to beat Ryan (Moore) or we both had to score no points, and he was on the even-money favourite. In the run I was supremely confident that my horse could run a place, but he didn't let down, and I must admit on the line I thought Ryan had run third, so it was an anxious few moments, but we got the victory.

"I came here quietly confident I could figure, because I had significantly enough rides to score enough points, but you need luck in running."

Horses were assigned by blind draw with the pot split HK$500,000 (US$64,000) to the winner, HK$200,000 (US$26,000) for second and HK$100,000 (US$13,000) for third.

Total attendance for Wednesday's banner event at Happy Valley was 29,601, the highest in the event's history since 1999. Turnover for the day eclipsed HK$1.238 billion, the second highest for an International Jockeys' Championship day.  

Racing resumes in Hong Kong on Dec. 11 when Sha Tin Racecourse hosts the HK$83 million ($1.3 million) seasonal showpiece, the Longines Hong Kong International Races.