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Ryan Moore Headlines Star-Studded Lineup For Hong Kong’s International Jockeys’ Championship

A stellar line-up featuring established greats and riders with red hot recent form will contest the LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021.

The exciting line-up includes three previous winners of the world's most coveted jockey challenge crown, including Zac Purton and reigning Hong Kong Champion Jockey Joao Moreira, both multiple champions on the world's most intensely competitive circuit. Reigning LONGINES IJC champion Zac Purton and Ryan Moore will both chase a record-equaling third IJC title.

The HK$800,000 LONGINES IJC is a four-race competition for 12 elite jockeys, and this year's edition features eight overseas riders and four based in Hong Kong, all battling for the HK$500,000 (about US$64,000) top prize, the most lucrative jockeys' challenge winner's cheque in the world.

Ryan Moore is no stranger to the LONGINES IJC, readying for his 15th appearance in the prestigious event at the iconic city circuit. Currently sitting at the top of the LONGINES World's Best Jockey standings, Moore will have another opportunity to add further gloss to his already incredible record in the saddle at Happy Valley next month.

In-form James McDonald joins the star-studded list, having performed at an exceptional level this year. Hailing from New Zealand, McDonald recently broke the record for the most wins in a Melbourne Cup Carnival week, securing 10 victories – including the G1 Melbourne Cup – across the four meetings to surpass Brett Prebble's record of nine.

McDonald, who ranks third in the LONGINES World's Best Jockey standings behind Ryan Moore (112 points) with 96 points, in the best form of his career, having plundered four G1 victories during the four-day Melbourne Cup carnival and is also a clear leader in both the New South Wales and Sydney jockeys' championships.

Yuga Kawada – one of Japan's leading riders – is also performing at the top of his game and arrives in Hong Kong at the end of a year highlighted by his historic win with Loves Only You – the first Japanese-trained runner to score a Breeders' Cup triumph, claiming the G1 Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar earlier this month. Through the current JRA season, Kawada is riding in sublime form with a win strike rate above 28%.

Meanwhile, Australian talent Damian Lane will join the contest for the first time. The 27-year-old rider has firmly established himself as one of the world's rising talents, winning three out of the four legs of Australian racing's 'Grand Slam' by securing the Golden Slipper aboard Kiamichi, Caulfield Cup aboard Mer De Glace and W.S. Cox Plate with Lys Gracieux in 2019.

Mickael Barzalona, representing France, will make his fourth LONGINES IJC appearance this year. He became one of the youngest riders ever to win the Derby when Pour Moi won at Epsom in 2011 and he added another Classic success to his record last year when Andre Fabre's Victor Ludorum won the French 2000 Guineas. His latest G1 win came on Sealiway in the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.

Aged 30, Barzalona currently leads the French jockeys' championship – the Cravache d'Or – with 172 winners so far for the season after a five-timer at Marseille on Sunday (Nov. 14).

British duo, Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle, will join the contest for the second time as two of world racing's most rapidly ascending stars. Aged 23 and 25 respectively, the couple sealed third and fifth place in the 2021 British Flat Racing Jockeys Championship and both made their LONGINES IJC debuts last year. In 2020, Doyle became the first female jockey to win a leg of the IJC, allowing her to finish joint third with Alexis Badel in the event.

South Africa will be represented in the LONGINES IJC for the first time since Gavin Lerena's appearance in 2016 with Lyle Hewitson slated to make his debut. The 24-year-old rider, after spending six months riding in Hong Kong through the 2019/2020 season, not only scored a pair of G2 triumphs in Japan but also captured his third South Africa Champion Jockey title in the 2020/2021 season. He has returned to Hong Kong to ride this term.

The final two spots on the 12-rider roster for the LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship will go to the highest-ranked rider in the Hong Kong championship standings, as well as the leading homegrown rider (a graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Apprentice Jockeys' School) at the cut-off date, which follows the race meeting on Wednesday, 24 November 2021.

Mr. Andrew Harding, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director, Racing, said: “The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and International Jockeys' Championship is the flagship event of Hong Kong racing and one of the World's top five racing events. It is a symbol of Hong Kong's world-class racing and the city's most prestigious international event.

“This year's LONGINES IJC has all the ingredients to provide another memorable edition. We have a fantastic line-up of accomplished riders, many of whom are in career-best form, including Yuga Kawada and James McDonald. Added to that is the return of Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle who are competing for the second time and will again add great excitement to what is always a thrilling contest.”

“We are delighted to have assembled an outstanding cast of riders and we are looking forward to a great night of sport set against the backdrop of one of the most iconic racecourses in the world.”

“We are grateful for the opportunity to stage the event and will be meticulous in our implementation of the HKIR 2021 racing bubble that underpins this,” said Mr Harding.

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Record-Breaking Season Concludes in Hong Kong

The 2020/2021 racing season in Hong Kong concluded July 14, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club reporting turnover in excess of HK$130 billion (£12.1b/€14.2b/US$16.7b) for the first time.

A total of 88 meetings–one more than last season–were conducted between September and July, with no programs lost to the coronavirus. The HKJC staged 835 races at Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses, and took 206 races from overseas for simulcasting purposes. Total turnover was HK$136 billion, representing a 12.1% increase over last season. The HKJC is the single largest taxpayer in Hong Kong, and the betting duty in 2020/2021 was HK$13.7 billion, a bump of 13.6% year over year. Handle on local races reached HK$129.3 billion, an improvement of 11% on last year, while betting on overseas races totaled HK$7 billion, a healthy hike of 37.7%.

“Given the circumstances confronting the Club, our overall season racing turnover of more than HK$136 billion is outstanding,” said HKJC Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges. “The growth in turnover is testament to the quality of our product and the support of our customers. To achieve these types of figures underpins the importance of horse racing to Hong Kong and its people. We are also delighted with how popular our simulcasts are with Hong Kong customers and we are pleased that we will offer more next season.

He added, “We are delighted to have been able to again complete a full season with a clear focus of ensuring racing to continue while upholding the principle of protecting the public health and safety of our employees, stakeholders and the public. The remarkable season turnover has enabled us to contribute more for the betterment of our society.”

Racing resumes in Hong Kong in early September.

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Magical 1000 Wins For Moreira

Hong Kong champion jockey Joao ‘Magic Man’ Moreira became only the third jockey in Hong Kong history to ride 1,000 winners on the island. The Brazilian was successful aboard Incanto Prepared (NZ) (Per Incanto) in the Class 4 Uranus H. over 1650 metres at Happy Valley on Wednesday. He joins 13-time champion Douglas Whyte (1813) and fellow champion Zac Purton (1209) in this elite millennial club.

“I can only describe it as a dream come true because I never dreamed that, to be honest, and I would never think that I could get to that mark in Hong Kong, knowing the place is such a tough place,” Moreira told the Hong Kong Jockey Club notes team. “I didn’t get there by myself–I had great support behind my back, pushing forward in all ways.

“Of course, good horses make the jockeys’ life much easier and I would describe the horses as the ones who make my life such a special life. I really enjoy doing what I do and I’m very pleased and glad to get to such a mark, a mark I never dreamed to get to–it’s very meaningful.

“I must dedicate this to my family, my wife [Taciana], my kids, my brothers and sisters and my mum, who are no doubt cheering for me to get to this mark and without their support, I would say I could never reach to this mark. Support is always the main thing behind the scenes.”

Moreira currently is on top of the Hong Kong jockey standings with 56 wins this season. Earlier in his career, he hit the 1000-win mark in South America, and was also a four-time Singapore champion reinsman from 2010-2013. He earned his first Hong Kong laurel in 2014/15 and repeated twice more so far, in 2015/16 and 2016/17.

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TDN Q & A: HKJC Chief Racecaller Mark McNamara

Having broken into the racecalling business nearly a quarter-century ago, Mark McNamara has worked his way up from describing the action at Moruya in southeastern New South Wales in Australia to becoming one of the primary voices of New Zealand racing from 2009 to 2019. McNamara, now in his early 40s, returned for a short time to Australia, but the job of chief commentator for the Hong Kong Jockey Club came open in late 2019 when Brett Davis announced that he would be returning to Adelaide to take a similar position with the South Australian Jockey Club. McNamara jumped at the opportunity, taking over officially this past Mar. 1 and, in a veritable baptism by fire, was calling the BMW Hong Kong Derby just three weeks later, even if the quality and precision of that call suggested that he’d been at it for years (video). With better than seven months under his belt at the HKJC, McNamara is set to call the Longines Hong Kong International Races for the first time this Sunday. McNamara generously took time out of his busy schedule to field a handful of questions from the TDN‘s Alan Carasso.

AC: How excited are you to call your first Longines Hong Kong International Races?

Mark McNamara: Very excited, it’s going to be a Longines HKIR like no other. Last year there were still 27,000 people on course, but this year it’s going to be in the hundreds. It will be eerie, but the races are on, so I can’t wait.

AC: Is there one race or one horse that you are looking most forward to?

MM: Definitely the clash between Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d’Oro) and Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the Mile. The respect factor for the Japanese horses is enormous, even more so when they travel. Admire Mars won it last year, of course, but he faces the ‘golden boy’ of Hong Kong racing this year who has that push-button speed. It has the potential to be the clash of the day.

AC: How did you get into commentating?

MM: It was something I wanted to do from a young age, so as you can guess, I was a bit of a weird kid, nothing much has changed there either! I was lucky enough to get a lucky break when I skipped school to go to Melbourne Cup day as a 15-year-old. This break led to calling the harness racing trials and very fortunately has gone on to become a life-long career.

AC: Are there colleagues in your line of business that you consider mentors or are there other racecallers that have influenced you?

MM: I was very fortunate coming through the ranks that I had help from a range of people who gave me a lot advice and mentoring. Without their help I’d still be working at McDonald’s! My favourite race caller of all time, former Sydney race caller John Tapp, was a terrific commentator and an even better person. I did call a horse a wrong name at some harness trials as a 17-year-old and the trainer tore absolutely shreds off me for doing it. While it wasn’t fun at the time, the message about getting it right certainly hit home that day.

AC: In your estimation, what makes a good commentator?

MM: A good memory is pretty important, also someone who can read a race well is a plus, never anticipate what you think may happen. The first piece of advice I give to anyone who asks about becoming a racecaller is just call what you see not what you think you see.

AC: What specific challenges does calling races in Hong Kong present relative to other places you’ve worked?

MM: The biggest challenges are the finish angles from the commentator’s box at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. Sha Tin isn’t too bad, but the position is still some distance prior to the line. Happy Valley you are a long way before the winning post which makes calling close finishes tricky, the TV comes in handy for them.

AC: How have you adjusted to life in Hong Kong?

MM: We really enjoy it, it’s a great city with so many things to do and see. You can be as energetic or as lazy as you want. The bucket list of things to do in Hong Kong is still quite long.

AC: Tell us one thing about yourself that would surprise people.

MM: I’m a massive plane nerd, I love aviation, even did half a private pilots license course, but failed a written test and never went back, it was like school all over again. Would love to be an air traffic controller if I wasn’t calling races.

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