All star lineup revealed for International Jockeys’ Championship

Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore will be one of the favourites to win the International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley

THE world’s best jockeys will be riding at Happy Valley on December 7 for the Hong Kong International Jockeys’ Championship.

The four-race competition is the richest jockey challenge in the world and this year the field features four Hong Kong-based riders and eight from overseas.

The headline act is champion Brazilian rider Joao Moreira, who was a winner of the championship in 2012. He will be up against the likes of Australia’s Hugh Bowman, English star Ryan Moore, Ireland’s nine-time champion Pat Smullen, Japanese hopeful Keita Tosaki, Italy’s Mirco Demuro, last year’s winner, South Africa’s Gavin Lerena, Frenchman Mickael Barzalona and US-based Florent Geroux.

“The LONGINES IJC is established as perhaps the world’s toughest jockey challenge, probably the most exciting and certainly the most lucrative,” Hong Kong Jockey Club Executive Director Andrew Harding said.

“It brings together some of the world’s very best riders and pitches them into a thrilling four-race contest around Happy Valley’s floodlit arena, a track that is as stunning to behold as it is testing to ride around,”

“We are delighted to have such a strong line-up of jockeys once again. This year’s cast is about as good as it gets. Seven of the confirmed riders for the 2016 IJC are or have been champion jockey in a major jurisdiction and three are past IJC winners.

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“The always passionate Happy Valley crowd is in for a great night to kick off the build-up to the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 11 December.”

Ryan Moore is seeking his third win in the event from 10 appearances. The English globetrotting star is set to become the first two-time winner of the annual World’s Best Jockey Award after an incredible 2016 which has already yielded 19 Group one wins.

Hugh Bowman has had success in Hong Kong after riding Werther to victory in the BMW Hong Kong Derby and the QEII Cup. The senior rider has been in form throughout the year, most notably remaining undefeated on champion mare Winx.

The winner of the International Jockeys’ Championship will be awarded HK$500,000.

Kings set to battle in Jockey Club Cup

Three kings of Hong Kong’s middle-distance ranks are set to do battle in this Sunday’s Group 2 Jockey Club Cup at Sha Tin.

Military Attack, Designs On Rome and Blazing Speed are set to dazzle once again on Sunday in what promises to be a great running of the HK$4 million Jockey Club Cup, which is a major lead-up to the Hong Kong Cup next month.

Military Attack ($21 for the Hong Kong Cup) will get the services of Joao Moreira this year who won aboard the eight-year-old in the Hong Kong Gold Cup in 2014.

“It’s nice to be back on him, I won the Hong Kong Gold Cup on him and I also rode him a few times to run close behind Designs On Rome a few years ago,” Moreira said.

“Last year he won this race and he was getting five pounds from Blazing Speed and he’s getting five pounds again from the top two horses; that 123 pounds he is carrying, that puts him right there with the top two.”

Moreira still believes Designs On Rome and Blazing Speed are the horses to beat, despite being heavily weighted in the race.

“Designs On Rome and Blazing Speed would be vying to be favourite, and then Military Attack comes into consideration. He’s the best ride I could get in the race,” Moreira said.

“He’s going well – he trialled well a week ago and whatever he does on Sunday he should improve for it, so I think Caspar (Fownes) is doing the right thing in preparing him this way for the big race in December. I’m not committed to ride him in December but if he goes well, why not? If he runs a race this time I would definitely have to consider riding him.”

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Moreira knows how tough Designs On Rome can be having partnered the John Moore-trained runner on nine occasions, which included a win in the 2014 Hong Kong Cup.

“We know how Designs On Rome runs and if you look at the field it’s not hard to see how it will likely play out. I’ll just ride Military Attack the best I can and I’m quite confident he’s going to be right there with them,” Moreira said.

Regular rider for Blazing Speed, Neil Callan, believes there’s little between the three top-rated horses this Sunday.

“There’s nothing much between the top three,” Callan said. “It all comes down to draws and the right tempo and who gets the best run. That’s been the case over the last few years.

“Blazing Speed has usually gone into the big races as the underdog and he’s come out on top on a number of occasions, so it just goes to show that there’s not a lot between these three horses.”

Callan is happy with how Blazing Speed is coming along heading into the Jockey Club Cup.

“He looks magnificent, he’s bouncing and he’s going into his pet distance off as good a run as he could have had in any season. His last run proved that he’s in really good form and that he’s ready to come out fighting again this season,” he said.

Karis Teetan won aboard Designs On Rome in the Sha Tin Trophy and he will again partner the classy son of Holy Roman Emperor.

“His first-up win was good,” Teetan said. “Even before I rode him last time I said he was ready to go again. He felt good, it was great to see him win and come back to his old form again. For an old horse like that, he’d had a hard season last season and to see him come back like that was great.

“I’ve seen his track work videos and he looks good in the morning, John (Moore) is happy with him so he should run a good race. Even now it’s a smaller field and given his style of racing he’s not going to be too far out of it.”

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