He may have run only once before at Group 1 level but French trainer Jerome Reynier is confident of a big performance from Skalleti in Sunday’s (13 December) HK$28 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m).

The five-year-old son of Kendargent finished in front of Magical at Ascot on British Champions Day in October and will cross swords again with Coolmore’s flagbearer, as well as defending champion Win Bright, the highly-tried Danon Premium and a resurgent Furore.

The sight of Skalleti and stablemate Royal Julius hacking around the Sha Tin sand on Monday (7 December) morning was an early reminder of one of the most enduring lessons for Sha Tin work watchers in the week leading up to the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races: namely that the French will never run the risk of leaving their race behind by overdoing things in the seven days leading up to the event.

“They are both ready and we won’t be reinventing the wheel this week,” said Reynier.

“At Calas [Renier’s training base near the southern port city of Marseille] they are used to working on a rising track which is quite deep so I won’t be asking serious questions on a firm flat track. They’ll just be cantering away on the sand, you won’t see them on the turf before Sunday.”

Skalleti has enjoyed an inexorable rise up the ranks under a patient Reynier, who has masterminded campaigns at four and five that have produced six wins across Listed, Group 3 and Group 2 level, before finally taking the plunge at the top-level when finding only Addeybb too strong in the Group 1 Champions Stakes (1993m) at Ascot in October.

After deliberately running twice at short of his optimum 2000m to get the gas out of him following Europe’s springtime lockdown, Skalleti made the most of ideal conditions to dispose of subsequent Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) hero Sottsass at Deauville in the Group 3 Prix Gontaut-Biron (2000m).

“He was getting six pounds from Sottsass and had ground conditions to suit, so I was always confident we’d see the real Skalleti. He really put on a show that day,” Reynier said.

“It was just a case of keeping him in the same shape to win a second Prix Dollar.”

But then there was the challenge of going to the Champion Stakes off just a two-week break, rather than a month or a month and a half.

“On top of that he had a change of surroundings because I kept him in Chantilly rather than head back to Calas, given the logistical issues with going to Britain,” Reynier said.

“It wasn’t a straightforward preparation but he showed he absolutely belongs at Group 1 level on his first try.

“On Sunday he needs to show he is up to that same level in very different circumstances, around two turns and on good ground and against opposition which is very used to such a set up. We beat Magical last time but this might be more to her taste and we are here to see what we can do.”

Those wins at Deauville and Longchamp, as well as his Group 1 debut at Ascot, may all serve to underline Skalleti’s ability on a heavy track.

But Reynier doesn’t believe his stable star should be pigeonholed in such a way.

Reynier said: “He is quite exceptional and it is rare to have a horse that can win a Premio Roma and two Prix Dollars on heavy ground going right-handed, who can also win on the all-weather at left-handed Marseille-Vivaux and a Prix Quincey up a straight 1600 metres at Deauville on good ground. He adapts to anything.

“I am quite confident and he’s a horse that never disappoints.”

Warming to his theme, Reynier added: “In the Quincey he was up against a real specialist over 1600 metres on good ground in the shape of Stunning Spirit, and he left him for dead. And Pierre-Charles [Boudot] gets on with him very well, so that’s another advantage.”

While the striking grey is likely to get most of the attention in the buildup to the Cup, Royal Julius and Mickael Barzalona might just fly under the radar in the HK$20 million LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m).

“We’ve had some fabulous days with him but he comes here off the back of two average performances,” said Reynier. “He didn’t enjoy the heavy ground in the Arc and at Rome the race circumstances were somewhat unusual.

“But his two second places in Milan were both very good. He is a horse that can get a little disheartened and so things need to go right for him.

“That said, it’s a small field with only two horses that stand out in Mogul and Exultant. Third place looks up for grabs so we have everything to gain and nothing to lose, safe in the knowledge he is in good form.

“On good ground going right-handed at between 2000 and 2400 metres, he is capable of putting up a very good performance if he is in the mood.”

In her wildest dreams, Hollie Doyle could not have dared to hope for a more spectacular year after a season of staggering achievements, but the English rider hopes to crown a wondrous 2020 with more success in the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley next Wednesday (9 December).

Acclaimed as winner of The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award and shortlisted for the prestigious BBC sports personality of the year award, the 24-year-old has triumphed on an unprecedented scale in 2020.

Doyle bettered her own 2019 record for the most wins (116) amassed by a female rider during a calendar year in Great Britain and, as of 2 December, has posted 139 wins. Additionally, she also finished fourth in the 2020 British Flat Jockeys’ Championship.

Noting the highest-ever placing by a woman, Frankie Dettori anointed Doyle as a future winner of the Championship after Doyle became the first woman to partner five winners on the same card at Windsor in August.

Doyle is part of a star-studded, six-jockey contingent from Europe to face the best of Hong Kong next week as she vies for the most lucrative jockeys’ challenge winner’s cheque in the world – a prize of HK$500,000.

Intriguingly, she will be pitted against her partner and fellow rising star Tom Marquand in an illustrious parade also containing Ryan Moore, a two-time winner of the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship, William Buick and French duo Pierre-Charles Boudot and Mickael Barzalona.

“Tom and I are really looking forward to going to Hong Kong,” Doyle said. “It is a place we have always thought about going to and the opportunity has now arisen so we are excited about the prospect.

“It is a great opportunity to ride in Hong Kong at the end of a great year.

“This year has been crazy really for the both of us. It could not have gone much better. We are really grateful and pleased with the way it has gone. We are already looking forward to next year and it would be fantastic to have even more success.”

Doyle rates Champions Day at Ascot on 17 October as “the best day of my career so far”, when she and Marquand combined to ride four of the six winners on the programme, crowned by breakthrough Group 1 success aboard Glen Shiel in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Stakes (1200m).

“To win my first Group 1 was very special on Glen Shiel,” she said. “It is special that it was also such a great day for Tom and I. You rarely both get success like that on a good day, but we were both absolutely delighted. It was quite simply a day I will never forget.

“Having five winners at Windsor was obviously another special day. To have a winner for my new retained owner Imad Al Sagar as part of the five-timer and plenty of rides for different trainers has been brilliant and it was another great day in what has been a fantastic season for me.

“I am just trying to keep everything rolling and I am just delighted with how things are going.”

Doyle, who sits alongside Formula 1 ace Lewis Hamilton, cricketer Stuart Broad and Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson on the BBC sports personality of the year shortlist, partially attributes her soaring success to her connection with trainer Archie Watson.

“I am in Archie Watson’s (yard) quite often and I know the horses inside and out so I think that has been a big part in the success that we have had,” she said.

“I just hope next season to keep riding lots of winners and with that hopefully lots of quality will come too.

“The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year award hasn’t really sunk in yet but it was so special to win it. It was a huge honour to have won the award. Having seen some of the previous winners I feel quite honoured, it was a huge privilege.”

Eager to make an impact in Hong Kong at the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship, Doyle retains lofty – and patently attainable – objectives.

“I would love to win the Jockeys’ Championship one day,” she said.

“I don’t know whether that is going to be next year or in 10 years. I am constantly trying my hardest to achieve my best and it is obviously something I would love to do.

“Whether I land in that position or not is down to me having a bit of luck.”

Zac Purton, Joao Moreira, Karis Teetan, Vincent Ho, Alexis Badel and Neil Callan will represent the Hong Kong team at Happy Valley next Wednesday, 9 December.

The former dual champion jockey only took out his training licence earlier this year, following in the footsteps of his father Aidan O’Brien – who completed the Derby and Oaks double at Epsom on Saturday – and his brother, Joseph.

Fancy Blue was a +650 shot to provide the 21-year-old fledgling trainer with a first Classic success in the French Oaks, having filled the runner-up spot behind his father’s filly Peaceful in the Irish 1,000 Guineas three weeks ago.

The pair renewed rivalry in France – and were joined on the trip from Ireland by the Jessica Harrington-trained Alpine Star, who was the +150 favourite to follow up her triumph in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Drawn one, the latter made much of the running in the hands of Stephane Pasquier and did not go down without a fight, but Fancy Blue eventually wore her down under Pierre-Charles Boudot to claim a narrow victory.

Peaceful was just behind her compatriots in third.

“There’s so much pressure and a lot of work goes into it, but this feeling is great and thank God she won,” O’Brien said.

“I always knew she was a very good filly and we always thought the step up in trip would suit her. It definitely did.

“The home straight felt like a lifetime, I didn’t really know what was going on. Thankfully at the end of it all she got her head in front.

“I was glad we didn’t go to Epsom after what I saw yesterday. I would say Love is a fair machine. Thankfully we made the right call in sending her to France.”

The popular grey, trained by Andrea Marcialis, has a series of creditable runs at the highest level to his name, but had previously always found one or two too good.

Sent off favourite despite the presence of Charlie Appleby’s Old Persian – who was ultimately disappointing – Way To Paris needed every yard of the mile-and-a-half trip to secure his long-awaited victory.

That perhaps should not be surprising given he ran in the Prix du Cadran over two and a half miles last season, but he had been sharpened up by running over shorter trips this term.

Czech-trained Nagano Gold and Ziyad had a break on the field, but Pierre-Charles Boudot swooped late on Way To Paris to get up in the final strides.

Marcialis said: “He’s a fantastic horse. When I started training in France, I only had two horses and he was one of them.

“He went close many times in the past, but now he has finally won a Group One.

“He was second over 10 furlongs last time, but today was his best performance.

“I changed the way we work him in the morning. I know him very well, I haven’t changed a lot, but he’s a champion horse.

“I think he’ll have a break now as he’s had three races in one month, then we’ll build him up for the Arc.”

Andre Fabre registered the 800th Group-race success of his long and illustrious career when Persian King returned to winning ways in the Prix du Muguet.

Winner of the French 2000 Guineas last season, he only ran once more when second to Sottsass in the French Derby.

Surprisingly beaten by stablemate Magny Cours on his return two weeks ago, he improved for that run and left the impression there was even more to come going up in trip.

Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe-winning jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot has strongly denied allegations of rape made against him.

Boudot, 27, who won Europe’s premier middle-distance race in October aboard Waldgeist, was at a police station in Chantilly on Thursday, where he voluntarily spoke to investigators.

The allegations are believed to concern an evening in August 2015, with the original complaint filed in October 2018.

Boudot’s lawyer Florence Gaudilliere told the French media her client “is the object of amorous revenge” and agreed voluntarily to appear for questioning “because he has absolutely nothing to reproach himself for”.

A multiple Group One-winning rider, as well as landing the Arc, Boudot enjoyed success at Royal Ascot last year with Watch Me in the Coronation Stakes.

The world’s two top jockeys, the evergreen and effervescent Frankie Dettori and Hong Kong’s own Zac Purton, head a stellar cast competing in the 22nd edition of the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley tonight (Wednesday 4 December).

Dettori and Purton sit one-two on the current LONGINES World’s Best Jockey rankings and they’re joined in pursuit of the HK$500,000 IJC prize by another 10 of racing’s most outstanding jockeys, including Oisin Murphy and Ryan Moore who finished second and third respectively, behind Dettori, in the 2018 official IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities) rankings.

The crowd-pulling Joao Moreira plus Karis Teetan and Vincent Ho also represent Hong Kong; defending IJC champion Silvestre de Sousa competes for Britain alongside Moore and this year’s champion British jockey Murphy; while national champions James McDonald, Colin Keane and Pierre-Charles Boudot add to the extraordinary list of talent along with IJC debutant Yuga Kawada who was this year’s World All-Star Jockeys champion in Japan.

The 49 year-old Dettori, who has enjoyed a career-best year with 19 Group 1 wins at an astonishing strike rate of 35.8%, summed up the view of all competitors when he said: “Just look at this line-up of amazing jockeys, it is a privilege to be asked to compete again.”

Dettori, three times IJC champion, is eagerly awaiting his first rides in Hong Kong since 2011 when he last claimed the title.

“It’s really exciting to be back. It’s a great atmosphere at Happy Valley and this series is always challenging taking on the best around this unique track,” he said.

Many of his rivals are experienced at Hong Kong’s city circuit and boast past IJC wins, with two championships to Moore and one to Purton, Moreira and de Sousa.

In contrast, Kawada rides at Happy Valley for the first time.

“I’m honoured to join the IJC with all the world’s top jockeys. The line-up is so amazing. This is my first time to ride at this sharp and tricky course but I will do my best,” said Kawada, who is one of only nine jockeys in Japan to have won all five classic races.

Teetan appears to have a good book of rides, most of which are well drawn.

“I can say it’s nice to go into the competition with some chance,” he said. “I think I learned a lot from my two previous IJC appearances and it’s great to ride here in Hong Kong and get the opportunity to go again in the IJC.”

Teetan, who is currently third in the Hong Kong jockeys’ premiership, named G Unit (race four) and High Rev (race eight) as “the two who stand out” among his book.

Irish-born Murphy said he was looking forward to the competition. “I’ll be studying the races tonight and watching the videos. I’m glad to be back here. I first came in 2016 and I’ve been back each year since. I’ve learned a lot here watching guys like Zac (Purton) and Joao (Moreira),” he said.

De Sousa, who won last year with a record tally of points, said he was “feeling a lot of pressure” this year. “There’s a lot of superstars here. I’m just proud and happy to be a part of it and I just hope I get lucky,” he said.

The four-race IJC is part of a nine-race card at the Valley, which starts at 6.30pm. The first IJC race is the fourth on the programme, the Class 4 LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship Handicap – 1st Leg (1000m) at 8.10pm.

The fourth and deciding contest is race eight, the Class 2 LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship Handicap – 4th Leg (1800m) at 10.10pm.

A stint with premier trainer Chris Waller whetted jockey Leigh Roche’s appetite for Australian racing and the Irishman is hoping to return with a bang aboard international raider I Am Superman in the inaugural Golden Eagle.

Roche was apprenticed to Dermot Weld in Ireland and spent eight years working for the dual Melbourne Cup winning trainer before heading to Australia for a three-month stint in late 2016.

He is thrilled to be back at Rosehill on Saturday, especially for a $7.5 million race.

“I loved it here when I was here three years ago with Chris Waller,” Roche said.

“I was hoping to come back but to come back for a $7.5 million race, that’s lottery numbers at home.

“It’s a big opportunity and I’m very grateful for getting out here and please God, bringing some of it home.”

Group Three placed in Ireland at his most recent start in August, I Am Superman is the least fancied of the three international raiders.

With the scratching of Zousain, he will jump from gate 13 in the field of 16 and Roche plans to ride him positively.

“He’s got good cruising speed. He jumps and he travels very well and he’s a big-striding horse so he gets into a rhythm and uses his stride,” Roche said.

Fellow Irishman Pat Dobbs, stable rider for trainer Richard Hannon, partners Beat Le Bron for his boss and has ridden the horse at his past four starts for three wins.

Dobbs believes a solid tempo will be key to his chances.

“I just hope they go a good gallop, that’s more important than anything,” Dobbs said.

“If they go a good gallop and he settles he’s got a very good turn of foot when he does relax in his races.”

Never No More is considered the brightest hope for the overseas brigade from a kind draw in seven and has the nous of champion trainer Aidan O’Brien and star French jockey Pierre-Charles Boudot.

Boudot is looking forward to his first Australian ride aboard the experienced traveller, who finished fifth in the Group One Secretariat Stakes at Arlington two starts ago.

“We have a good draw. The ground is perfect, it’s good, it’s not too firm. I think it will be perfect for my horse,” Boudot said.

The jockey has had a stellar year with six Group One victories at home including the biggest prize of all, the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on Waldgeist who lowered the colours of Enable.

Frankie Dettori has ridden another Group One winner at Royal Ascot, steering Advertise to win the Commonwealth Cup.

The Martyn Meade-trained colt was one of the star performers in the juvenile division last season – winning three of his five starts and finishing second in the Coventry Stakes and in the Dewhurst.

He was never a threat in last month’s 2000 Guineas at Newmarket and as a result wore blinkers for the first time as he dropped back to six furlongs (1200m).

Dettori had Advertise midfield for much of the way before hitting the front racing inside the final furlong.

“I’m so pleased for Martyn as he has been having a tough time,” Dettori said.

“He ran a stinker in the Guineas and he decided to close his stable for a month as he knew his horses weren’t right and it paid dividends.

“We were hoping and we weren’t so sure if we were out of the woods, but he put in a tremendous performance there. I was always in control. He travelled like the winner and when I kicked he went.

“He was back to his best.”

The win was Dettori’s seventh of the meeting which has one day to go.

The other Group One event on the program, the Coronation Stakes, was won by French Horse Watch Me who upset the favourite Hermosa.

Ridden by Pierre-Charles Boudot, Watch Me gave trainer Francis-Henri Graffard his second Group One victory in a week, having landed the Prix de Diane at Chantilly with Channel.

“Obviously we were 20-1. It’s good for me with the owner – he said go and enjoy yourself. There is no pressure. We are an outsider. If we are third that’s a fantastic result, but like last Sunday I was behind my binoculars looking at the trip she had,” Graffard said.

“She travelled really nicely and quickened very nicely to win well.”

Boudot began his short-term contract at Sha Tin’s Lucky Start Raceday on Monday (1 January) with four rides, including two third placings. The Frenchman also participated in the International Jockeys Championship at Happy Valley last month, winning the final leg aboard the John Size-trained Bank On Red, and he believes that win may prove crucial during his two-month stint.

“I was very proud to represent France in what I consider to be the world’s best jockey championship,” Boudot, speaking in French, said through an interpreter. “Of course, knowing that I was going to be riding here in January and February, my wish was to ride one winner and I achieved that target. It was a very important win for me, I think.

“My first day at Sha Tin went well, the two horses I placed on ran nicely and hopefully it is the start of a good period.”

Boudot, 25, began his career in 2009, apprenticed to Andre Fabre. The eight-time Group 1 winning rider teamed with France’s inimitable champion trainer at Sha Tin for the Hong Kong International Races in both 2015 and 2016, and competed at his third HKIR in 2017.

His initial international foray came in 2014 when he spent two months in Japan with trainer Yasutoshi Ikee and, based on that experience, he is excited for what lies ahead.

“It’s already a success for me, just to be invited to Hong Kong. I am very grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “I know that it is going to be a very good experience, just like it was in Japan. Of course, I will try to be as successful as possible, but I want to enjoy this time and hope to make the trainers and owners as happy as I can with my riding. I only wish I could be here for longer.”

Boudot’s best campaign came in 2016, when he won the Cravache d’Or – the Golden Whip – as France’s Champion Jockey for the second consecutive season, having tied with Christophe Soumillon for the title a year earlier. He became the first rider ever to record 300 European victories in a year in 2016, a figure that was topped by Soumillon in 2017 with 306 wins.

While riding in Hong Kong puts an end to any ambitions to topple Soumillon’s record in 2018, Boudot believes that the experience he will gain from his time in Hong Kong will ultimately benefit his career long-term.

“Records are made to be broken, and I will always be the first to have achieved the 300 wins,” Boudot said. “You always want what you haven’t got and for Christophe, that was the 300 wins and the record. He already had plenty of experience abroad and had been here in Hong Kong. For me, I want the experience of riding in new places.

Maybe in a few years, I can try again, but the target at the moment is to do as well as I can here.

“As an international experience, I think Hong Kong is the best I can do. I have already ridden for a couple of months in Japan in the past, but Hong Kong to me is the ultimate challenge.”

Andrew Harding, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director, Racing Authority, said: “Pierre-Charles Boudot truly is one of the remarkable talents of his generation, which he has already shown with his feats – he has achieved so much and he is only 25. He will be a great addition to the roster over the next two months and we all look forward to watching him ride.”

Boudot is currently booked for three rides for the next Hong Kong meeting, at Sha Tin on Sunday, 7 January.

Whether its ex-Aussie Zac Purton, the “Magic Man” Joao Moreira or even the soon-to-be racing resident Pierre-Charles Boudot, the hoops in Hong Kong are larger than life characters that can draw wagers on their elects based on name-value alone.

We took a look at the four must-follow jockeys heading into the HKIR, who all should be right in the mix for the Jockeys Challenge title on Sunday.

Hong Kong International Races odds

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Zac Purton

The winner of the International Jockeys Challenge at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, Purton brings his best form into the most important Hong Kong meet of the year.

Purton extracted every ounce out of a book of rides he described as “a bit of a disaster”, so we are looking forward to what the star hoop can deliver aboard a number of key elects in the main races of the day.

Last year the ex-Aussie recorded two group one wins on HKIR day, including partnering the $6 hope at Ladbrokes Beauty Only, which is competing in the Hong Kong Mile.

Joao Moreira

You don’t get the nickname “The Magic Man” for no reason, and Moreira will be out to prove his wizardry on Sunday afternoon.

The Brazilian was in red-hot form on Wednesday night, claiming the opening three races at Happy Valley in spectacular fashion. The 33-year-old went on to claim two more seconds on the night, completing a brilliant night of racing in Hong Kong.

Moreira lifts a cog at Sha Tin, so keep an eye out for all the Magic Man’s rides throughout the day – if he gets hot, he stays hot.

Ryan Moore

The three-time English flat racing jockey of the year Ryan Moore is without question one of the best riders in the world, but one of the jurisdictions he struggles to find his best form in is Hong Kong.

The 34-year-old again struggled to make an impact in the International Jockeys Challenge, managing just the single placing and a fourth across the entire night. We believe typically jet-setting Moore may actually benefit from the lacklustre night however, as it gives him more time to adjust to the local conditions.

You can never count a champion out, and we are backing Moore in to deliver some winners this Sunday.

Pierre-Charles Boudot

Record-breaking French young gun Pierre-Charles Boudot will be out to show the world he means business in the final major meeting of 2017.

Boudot – who will join the Hong Kong jockey roster from New Year’s Day – had a decent night in the International Jockeys Challenge, claiming a win and a second placing.

The 24-year-old was a dominant force in France, winning back-to-back Golden Whips, claiming an astonishing 300 wins in the season, 74 better than the next-best Golden Whip winner in recorded history.

The kid is a star in his home country and he can etch his name further into racing folklore if he has a quality HKIR.

Given the French form, who are we to doubt him?