Three Hong Kong Group 1 races have purses increased for next season

Hong Kong has raised purses for three Group 1 races and the Hong Kong Derby for the circuit’s 2019-20 season that begins in September, according to a statement released earlier this week.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup at 1 1/4 miles in April will be worth approximately $3.19 million, a gain of 4.2 percent, while the Champions Mile has been increased 11 perce to approximately $2.55 million. The Chairman’s Sprint Prize at six furlongs will have a purse of $2.3 million, a hike of 12.5 percent. Those races are run on the same program at Sha Tin Racecourse on a Sunday in late April.

The Hong Kong Derby for 4-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles at Sha Tin in March, which is not a group-level race, will have a purse of $2.55 million, a gain of 11 percent from this year.

The purses for the track’s four international Group 1 races at Sha Tin in December were not affected by the purse increase. The richest of those races – the Hong Kong Cup at 1 1/4 miles – was worth approximately $3.58 million in 2018 and is Hong Kong’s richest race.

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Overall, racing in Hong Kong will have approximately $166.3 million in prize money for the 2019-20 season over 88 days of racing at Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses, with increases of 4.7 percent to 7.7 percent for most races.

Hong Kong’s overnight races operate primarily through a handicap ratings system for horses listed in classes 1 through 5. Class 1 races, which often feature horses capable of racing in group stakes, will have purses of approximately $358,285, a gain of 6.7 percent over the current season, which ends on Sunday at Sha Tin.

* The forthcoming season will be the last for all-time leading trainer John Moore, who will turn 70 during the season, the mandatory retirement age, according to Hong Kong racing officials. Moore has won seven training titles and is in the running for the title at the current season.

Through Wednesday’s final program of the year at Happy Valley, John Size led the trainer’s standings with 76 wins. Size, 64, who has won 10 training titles in Hong Kong, had a two-race lead over Moore, who has won 1,750 races in Hong Kong in his career.