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Two-Time Breeders’ Cup Turf Runner-Up Magical Could Make History In Dec. 13 Hong Kong Cup

Magical is among a stellar line-up of 45 horses selected for the HK$95 million (US$12.26 million) LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday, Dec. 13.

Aidan O'Brien's superstar mare is just one of 17 Group 1 winners set to compete. The globetrotting daughter of Galileo is bidding to make history by becoming O'Brien's most prolific Group 1 winner with eight top-level wins – the most of any O'Brien-trained flat horse – and she is the headliner among a brilliant contingent of 15 overseas raiders aiming at this year's HKIR.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has created uncertainty around many international racing events, the strength of the international presence in this year's entries confirms that the Sha Tin Showpiece remains high on the agenda of international horsemen.

The LONGINES HKIR is the sport's global year-end spectacular and features the HK$28 (US$3.61) million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m, about 1 1/4 miles), the HK$25 ($US3.23) million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m, about one mile), the HK$22 (US$2.84) million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m, about six furlongs), and the HK$20 ($US2.58) million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m, about 1 1/2 miles). The Cup, Mile and Sprint are the world's richest G1 races on turf over their respective distances.

Magical is one of five in a powerful cohort from O'Brien, and victory in the Hong Kong Cup would set her apart from fellow O'Brien-trained seven-time G1 winning champions Rock Of Gibraltar, Minding, Yeats and Highland Reel as the Irish handler's most prolific winner at the top level.

Also among O'Brien's Ballydoyle brigade is G1 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Order Of Australia (Mile). Four-time G1-placed Lope Y Fernandez also heads for the Hong Kong Mile after a strong third in that Keeneland race, while this year's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Peaceful takes to the Cup. G1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Mogul eyes the Vase, and victory would give O'Brien a record-setting third win in the Vase following the heroics of Highland Reel (2015 and 2017).

The exciting fields for the four Group 1 features include big-name Japanese contenders: the six-strong squad from Japan includes last year's Hong Kong Cup winner Win Bright, unbeaten at Sha Tin having also claimed the 2019 FWD QEII Cup, while Admire Mars returns to defend his Hong Kong Mile crown.

Also from Japan, G1 winning sprinter Tower Of London features, as does Danon Smash, who returns for a second tilt at the Hong Kong Sprint. Last year's G1 Victoria Mile winner Normcore features in the Cup along with Danon Premium, a G1 winner as a two-year-old and runner-up to Almond Eye in last year's G1 Tenno Sho Autumn.

Singapore will have sole representation in the form of two-time SIN G1 winner Inferno in the Sprint. The talented speedster has won eight of his nine career starts, and his Lion City Cup (1200m, about six furlongs) success came in race-record time (1:08.28), a half-second outside the course record set by dual Hong Kong Sprint winner (2007 and 2009) Sacred Kingdom in the 2009 KrisFlyer International Sprint over the same distance at Kranji Racecourse.

France has two entries, spearheaded by last-start G1 QIPCO British Champion Stakes runner-up Skalleti who is entered for the Cup. A 12-time winner from 16 starts for up-and-coming trainer Jerome Reynier, the five-year-old has three G2s and two G3s to his name, including a defeat of the subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass at Deauville in August, while stablemate and 2019 Bahrain International Trophy winner Royal Julius joins him but contests the Vase.

A strong Hong Kong team is headed by Golden Sixty, whose G2 Jockey Club Mile success on Sunday (Nov. 22) made him only the fourth horse in Hong Kong racing history to win 10 consecutive races after Silent Witness, Beauty Generation and Co-Tack. Hong Kong's reigning Horse of the Year Exultant and dual previous Horse of the Year Beauty Generation bolster local hopes as they bid for their second and third respective wins in the Vase and the Mile, while top-level winners Waikuku and Southern Legend will also be in action.

The 2019 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Furore will take to the Hong Kong Cup after defeating Exultant in the G2 Jockey Club Cup, while steely grey Hot King Prawn will face off with fellow grey Classique Legend, who arrives in Hong Kong rated 125 on the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings as the joint-highest rated sprinter in the world. He has joined the Caspar Fownes yard after an impressive conquest against seven individual G1 winners in the 2020 The Everest at Randwick Racecourse.

Andrew Harding, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director, Racing, said: “The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races is firmly established among a select handful of the world's greatest international racing occasions. To have entries of this calibre in any year would be notable but this year's standard is remarkable given the challenge of the pandemic and all its attendant travel and quarantine issues.

“We are delighted that the quality of the selected runners for this year's LONGINES Hong Kong International Races is in keeping with our long-held commitment to deliver sporting excellence and Magical's participation is particularly exciting when you think of the significant slice of history that she could create for Aidan O'Brien.

“Exultant will look to recapture his Vase title, while the old marvel Beauty Generation adds intrigue to the Mile. Add in some top-class Japanese raiders and our leading local hope Golden Sixty and everything surely points to a thrilling afternoon of sport on Dec. 13.”

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Half-Dozen Riders to Fly European Flag in IJC

Six European-based jockeys will square off against a half-dozen Hong Kong-based riders in the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Hong Kong’s Happy Valley Racecourse Wednesday, Dec. 9. Carrying prizemoney of HK$800,000 (£77,666/€86,943)–with a first prize of HK$500,000–the IJC is the most lucrative jockey competition in the world.

The foreign contingent is led by the duo of Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle, aged 22 and 24, respectively, and each of whom has celebrated a breakout season in 2020. Among Marquand’s successes this season include the G1 QIPCO British Champion S. aboard Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), whom he also piloted to victories in the G1 Ranvet S. and G1 Longines Queen Elizabeth S. in Sydney. Doyle is set to become just the third female participant in the IJC, joining Chantal Sutherland and Emma-Jayne Wilson, and posted 129 victories this season, most ever for a female jockey in Britain. She earned a breakthrough Group 1 success on Champions Day, winning the G1 British Champions Sprint aboard Glen Shiel (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}).

Ryan Moore, a two-time IJC winner, and William Buick will make the trip to Hong Kong to represent, Britain, while France’s Pierre-Charles Boudot, winner of two races at this month’s Breeders’ Cup meeting at Keeneland, and perennial leading jockey Mickael Barzalona are also set to participate.

The home team, which number six this season instead of the usual four, is led by Joao Moreira and Zac Purton, the top two in the 2020/2021 jockeys’ premiership; defending IJC champion Karis Teetan; and Vincent Ho, who looks to have a pair of live mounts in the Longines Hong Kong International Races Dec. 13. The final two representatives will be announced following the Happy Valley meeting Nov. 25.

Visiting jockeys will undergo multiple COVID-19 tests prior to their arrival in Hong Kong and will go straight into their designated accommodations with strict quarantine protocols in place. They will also be under continuous medical surveillance by the Club’s Chief Medical Office–including daily COVID-19 tests and twice daily temperature checks–and on IJC night at Happy Valley, the visiting riders will occupy a separate jockeys’ rooms away from the Hong Kong-based riders.

In an effort to ensure that no rider draws a book of rides that is either too strong or too weak, the Hong Kong Jockey Club will employ a system whereby a group of handicappers will assess each of the runners before knowing the riding assignments and will render a final opinion following the IJC barrier draw Monday, Dec. 7.

The HKJC is also allocating HK$350,000 to award the trainers whose horses accumulate the most points in an effort to encourage their participation.

“The Hong Kong Jockey Club has succeeded again in putting together 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,” said Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing, for the HKJC. “We are so pleased that, with strict protocols in place, the event can be a truly international occasion. The prize money increases, which make this year’s edition the richest yet, further reinforcing the prestige associated with the event.”

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International Campaign For Oxted

G1 July Cup winner Oxted (GB) (Mayson {GB}) is set for an international campaign after being beaten just a length when fifth in last weekend’s G1 British Champions Sprint S. The 4-year-old gelding could take in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 13 or wait and prepare for the G1 Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night next March.

“He’s fine. He’s come out of the race well; no ill effects, so that’s good,” said trainer Roger Teal of Oxted’s Ascot effort. “He was probably just a bit too keen early, and we paid the price late on. There was no pace early. Obviously a stronger pace would have helped us. On better ground he’d probably have kept on going. He handled the ground, but I think his stamina ran out over the stiff six.”

“We’ve been invited possibly to Hong Kong, but I think we’re going to see what happens with him and maybe go to Dubai next year,” Teal added. “We might go out there possibly for Super Saturday and World Cup night for the Al Quoz. It’s not definite, but to be fair to the horse we might concentrate on that. We’ll be guided by him over the next week or so.

“We’ve got next year to look forward to. I don’t want to put too many miles on the clock. We’ve got an exciting year to look forward to next year.”

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Hong Kong On Skalleti Agenda

Jean-Claude Seroul’s Skalleti (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) could target the Hong Kong International meeting on Dec. 13 off the back of his second-place finish in the G1 Champion S. last weekend.

The 5-year-old gelding-who stays in training next year-was trying Group 1 company for the first time in the Champion. He has won nine of his last 12 starts including six black-type races and two runnings of the G2 Prix Dollar. He has been off the board just once in 16 starts.

“You always go to the races with a lot of confidence with this horse, because he always gives you everything,” said trainer Jerome Reynier. “He had the conditions to suit [at Ascot], because he handles that sticky ground well. To be fair, he is good on soft and heavy, straight tracks or right or left-handed, and he has even been winning on Polytrack–he’s just an amazing horse.

“Now the question is whether we go to Hong Kong with him. He hasn’t had a big campaign this year, because he only started in May and had two light starts on good ground before we started to step things up in August. We could now be aiming for Hong Kong, where I will enter him in the Hong Kong Cup over a mile and a quarter and the Hong Kong Vase over a mile and a half. You have to stay really well over a mile and a quarter at Ascot on that sort of ground, and he wasn’t fading out–when Magical came to him he kept going to finish second. I think he would stay a mile and a half on good ground in Hong Kong. Everyone is saying the races will not be as competitive this year, because the Japanese horses are not so good and the local level isn’t so strong either, so this could be the year to try it.”

Skalleti’s trainer is already eyeing a return to Ascot for next year’s G1 Prince of Wales’s S.

“The owner really wants to keep him in one piece and doesn’t want to try silly things, so I can understand if he decides to put him away for next year,” Reynier said. “We could aim for the [G1] Prix Ganay in France in April, and everyone is saying we should consider the Prince of Wales’s S. in June, because sometimes it’s raining and they can get soft ground. We will definitely consider that, because there is no option in France at that time of year.”

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