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‘It Could All Happen Again’: Marquand A Live Chance In IJC Title Defence

The Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) is the premier event of its kind in the world, and with good reason, as it brings together 12 of the most-accomplished riders from all corners of the globe vying for the winner's share of the HK$800,000 (£81,120/$102,320) prizemoney on offer.

The IJC, the true start of Longines Hong Kong International Races festivities, takes place annually at iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island, its tight turns and unique configuration offering up additional challenges, especially for jockeys based outside of Hong Kong.

Britain's Tom Marquand is one of four previous IJC winners in the mix Wednesday evening, joining Ryan Moore, Zac Purton and Karis Teetan, and looks to record his second victory in the event. The 25-year-old reinsman, whose wife Hollie Doyle finished on the IJC podium in 2020 (third) and again in 2021 (second) and also takes her chances this time around, is looking forward to perhaps winning the title outright, after sharing the spoils with Silvestre de Sousa 12 months ago.

“Last year was a bit turbulent but it's fantastic to be back,” said Marquand, who just last month won his first Breeders' Cup race in his first ride aboard Big Evs (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) in the Grade I Juvenile Turf Sprint. “It was great to win with Silvestre. You'd always rather win it on your own, but it's better to take it home with someone else than not at all.

“It looks like I've got a good enough book of rides that if things fall right it could all happen again, but it's a tough evening of racing and it's highly competitive.”

Marquand has two of his rides in the four-race competition for trainer Caspar Fownes, who has posted more wins at Happy Valley than any other trainer, and one each for Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro)'s conditioner Francis Lui and Ricky Yiu. The latter sends out top-weighted and 79-rated Splendid Living (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in the third leg–carded as race seven–a Class 3 (80-60) over the 1650 metres. The 6-year-old gelding has a record of 4-3-1 from 10 runs over course and distance, but will need his best with the big weight and a tricky draw in 10.

Doyle is one of two females in the field and is joined British transplant and now Australian-based Rachel King. The 33-year-old showed that she could mix it with foreign riders in Japan's World All-Stars Jockeys, going down by a point to Mirai Iwata.

“Last time I was here I went and watched some races at Happy Valley, I'd just ridden in an amateur ladies' flat race in Macau,” King said.” So, it's been a bit of a journey to where I am now.

“I'm really looking forward to it, hopefully I'll have a few decent rides in there as well. Zac (Purton) was giving me a few little pointers, there are plenty of good people to learn from. I'll just try to get as much information as I can.”

Kazakhstan-born Bauyrzhan Murzabayev also makes his first IJC appearance off a strong season in France, during which he rode 60 winners–including 12 in black-type competition–for the legendary Andre Fabre. Like Marquand and Doyle, the four-time German and three-time Czech champion, jets in from Japan, where he is riding on a short-term contract for the second straight season.

“I am very lucky to have spent a year riding for Andre Fabre, who for me is a great trainer,” says Murzabayev. “I learned a lot from him and it was a good experience.

“I think I learn new tracks and places pretty quickly. But if somebody had told me 10 years ago 'you will be riding in all these top races,' I'm not sure I would have believed them.”

Also participating are Moore, James McDonald, Mickael Barzalona and Yuga Kawada from overseas, while Lyle Hewitson and Vincent Ho join Purton and Teetan in representing Hong Kong.

The IJC begins with the evening's fourth race at Happy Valley at 8.10pm local time (12.10pm GMT, 7.10am US Eastern Time). Click here for the race card.

 

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Pletcher, Repole Lose Another Round in Fight to Overturn Hopeful DQ

Members of the New York Gaming Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to uphold a recommendation from a hearing officer that Forte (Violence) be disqualified from his victory in the 2022 GI Hopeful S. In the Hopeful, Forte tested positive for the prohibited substance meloxicam, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication.

The case has moved slowly since the Sept. 2022 race. It took a eight months for the New York Gaming Commission to make the finding public and when it did the stewards disqualified Forte, fined Pletcher $1,000 and suspended him for ten days. Pletcher and owners Mike Repole and Vinnie Viola appealed the stewards' ruling, which meant the matter was sent to a hearing officer, Clark Petschek. The session with the hearing officer was held in July and Petschek issued his report on Sept. 30. Petschek upheld the original findings of the stewards, the fine, the suspension and the disqualification.

It is within the commission's right to reject the hearing officer's recommendations but, instead, it voted unanimously to uphold them.

It was noted that the owners of Hopeful runner-up, Bill and Corrine Heiligbrodt, appeared at the hearing to support the decision to disqualify Forte.

“They could have made the decision the day after the hearing,” Repole said. “I guess they must have done a lot of extensive work the last six, seven months. Instead, they took six months to state the obvious. We knew what was going to happen. We got just what we expected. They did what they thought they needed to do. We knew there was a zero percent chance this was going to get overturned.”

It's unlikely that Tuesday's ruling by the New York Gaming Commission will be the last word on the Forte matter. The Forte team can now take their case to the courts and will like file an appeal within the New York court system. Repole has vowed to spend whatever it takes to get the Hopeful decision overturned.

“We plan on taking this further and we knew we were going to get to this point,” he said. “Under HISA rules, this isn't even a violation. We are super confident that common sense will prevail and people will realize we put in this governing body in HISA to make sure people are ethical and play by the rules of the sport. Any real process that follows common sense will easily see it the same way and we will prevail.”

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Especially Kidz Receives Donation from Horseshoe Indianapolis

Horseshoe Indianapolis will distribute $32,815.10 to the Especially Kidz organization–which focuses on the care of physically challenged kids and young adults with 24-hour skilled nursing care–via funds from a special option utilized by guests on the casino floor, the track announced in a press release Monday.

The NRT Technology kiosks provide an option for guests, when cashing out, to earmark any winnings to charity and Especially Kids was included as one of the recipients for the charitable giving option in 2023. A group of Horseshoe Indianapolis team members stopped by Especially Kidz to deliver the check from the proceeds Friday, Dec. 1. They were joined by several members of the care giving staff in receipt of the donation.

“To be able to contribute these funds donated by our guests to such a worthwhile organization is a tremendous opportunity for Horseshoe Indianapolis,” said Trent McIntosh, Senior Vice President and General Manager. “Especially Kidz is managed by a group of extremely dedicated workers who provide such an important service to our community. We are glad we can be a small part of delivering much-needed support to their organization.”

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Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Closes Out 2023 with December Mixed Sale

The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2023 sales season concludes with the December Mixed Sale which begins Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. The one-session auction opens with an offering of 156 catalogued broodmares and broodmare prospects, weanlings and yearlings, and continues with 60 catalogued horses of racing age.

“Every time I turn around, there are more people coming in,” Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sales Director Paget Bennett said from the sales grounds Monday. “So that's a good thing. There is a good product here, good Maryland-breds and good New York-breds, so something for everyone. It's a small catalogue, but we hope that a lot of the people who have come and supported us in the past and have shopped this sale and always found useful horses are here again.”

The racehorse section produced the four six-figure offerings of last year's December Mixed sale with the $260,000 sale topper Radical Right (First Samurai) heading west to be graded-stakes placed early in 2023.

This year's racing age offerings will likely appeal to a wide swath of buyers, according to Bennett.

“Some of the horses here are turf horses, so perhaps these are horses that people can pick up and take them south for the winter and keep going with them,” she said. “There will be some that probably find new spots that will run regionally here, but there were quite a few last year who came out of this sale and went right to Gulfstream. Or they can go to Turfway. I've already seen a few steeplechase trainers walking the grounds. There are horses that could fit their criteria and they can get them ready to start over jumps in the spring. This is the perfect time to pick up these kinds of horses to make into jumpers.”

The December mixed sale closes out another strong year of auctions in Timonium, led by the flagship Midlantic May Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training.

“There are a lot of runners that come out of this marketplace,” Bennett said. “It's a source for good horses, whether they are going on to a 2-year-old sale or to end-users. We hold our own.”

The Fasig-Tipton Midlantic June Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training made its debut in Timonium in 2023 and it's an auction that Bennett hopes will mature into its spot on the calendar going forward.

“The June sale is very much needed for horses who, for whatever reason, need more time,” Bennett said. “We are hoping people will support us and bring horses back to the June sale. We understand it is hard to come up the road twice, but I think there is good reason to come back for the June sale. There is such a demand for horses in this racing region up here–Presque Isle, Penn National, Parx, Delaware, Colonial. There are so many places that have racing and people need horse to fill their stables to send strings to different spots. I think the June sale would be a perfect source for folks. I think consignors need to keep that in mind and think about that as an option when it comes time to marketing their 2-year-olds.”

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