Hong Kong: World's top riders at Happy Valley for International Jockey's Challenge
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Happy Valley is not an easy track to ride. One turn is wider than the other, there are undulations to unbalance horse and rider, and obtaining a decent position before a homestretch much shorter than Hong Kong’s larger racecourse, Sha Tin, is of great importance.
And the Wednesday card at Happy Valley is all about the riders. Four of the program’s 10 races – the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth – form the International Jockey’s Championship, an annual Happy Valley fixture the Wednesday before the Hong Kong International Races on Sunday at Sha Tin.
This year’s lineup, a dozen strong, includes Ryan Moore, Joao Moreira, Zac Purton, Yuga Kawada, Mickael Barzalona, Damian Lane, Holly Doyle, James McDonald, Vincent Ho, Tom Marquand, Alexis Badel, and Lyle Hewitson. The competition offers prize money of about $103,000 and is decided by top-three finishes in the four selected races, jockeys earning 12 points for a win, six for a second-place finish, and four for third.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club selects races that seem especially competitive to minimize the impact random mount distribution has on the riders’ chances. Race 4, a Class 4 handicap, is run over 1,000 meters; race 5, a Class 4 handicap, is at 1,650 meters, one lap around the course; race 7 also comes at 1,650 meters but is a Class 3 handicap; and race 8, another Class 3, will be run over 1,200 meters.
Damian Lane and Yuga Kawada could be on live runners in the competition’s final leg, with Lane landing the ride on California Cible, who blasted to a 1 1/2-length victory under these conditions (Class 3, 1,200 meters at Happy Valley) on Nov. 17. Four-year-old California Cible, an Australian import, only made his Hong Kong debut this racing season and has two seconds to go with his last-start win from his four-race campaign. Lane, however, is drawn wide with his first three mounts in the competition.
Kawada, who rode the first Japanese Breeders’ Cup winner, Loves Only You, last month at Del Mar, was assigned Astrologer, another last-start Class 3 winner, in race 8. Kawada’s mount in race 5, Smiling City, figures to race prominently from the start, while his race 4 ride, Oversubscribed, drew well in post 4.
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Moore and Purton are two-time winners of the competition.
First post for the Happy Valley card is 5:30 a.m. Eastern and you can catch all the Hong Kong action at DRFBets.com.