The Kentucky-bred Lemon Pop won the Grade 1 February Stakes at a mile on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse in February and will attempt to sweep Japan’s other Grade 1 race on dirt in Sunday’s $1.58 million Champions Cup at 1 1/8 miles at Chukyo Racecourse.
Lemon Pop, by Lemon Drop Kid, is part of a field of 15 in the Champions Cup, a race known at times in the past as the Japan Cup Dirt.
By Tom Peacock
With Luxembourg fronting a squad which is represented in each one of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR), it is unlikely that Aidan O’Brien will have ever arrived at the meeting with such strength in depth.
It may well be a reflection of the standard of horse at Ballydoyle, which includes the Derby and Breeders’ Cup winner Auguste Rodin and Europe’s most exciting two-year-old, City Of Troy.
Get the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races Form Guide here: https://static.drf.com/foreignPPs/2023HKIR_Formguide_Eng.pdf
By Mariko Seki
Over the past few years, Japanese horses have dominated many of the major international race meetings, even during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the number of Japanese runners gets larger and larger especially in recent years.
The only time the Australian gelding Overpass has raced at Ascot Racecourse in Perth he made a tiny piece of Australian racing history by winning the first running of the $2.68 million Quokka Stakes in April.
The Quokka Stakes is the richest race in Western Australia, and has a field in which owners purchase berths and then nominate starters.
By Leo Schlink
Bidding for breakthrough Group 1 success at the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, Voyage Bubble and Beauty Eternal showed they are on target for the 10 December showpiece with solid trial wins at Sha Tin on Thursday morning (30 November).
Irish Kisses was zooming past rivals in the final furlong of a one-mile handicap at Newcastle Racecourse in Australia on Nov. 18 on her way to a third-place finish. Closing from 10th in a field of 11, she finished well, but was unable to catch rivals Toesonthenose and Stray, losing by 2 1/4 lengths.
The result may be reversed when Irish Kisses starts at 1 1/8 miles for the first time in a handicap on the infield Kensington course at Royal Randwick on Thursday evening.
By Scott Burton
With a total of 18 runners spread across the past 24 editions of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, master trainer Andre Fabre has been one of Europe’s most consistent supporters of the meeting.
By Leo Schlink
Chill Chibi took another significant step towards the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) in March after Danny Shum’s talented young stayer overpowered older rivals to win the Class 3 Dunnottar Castle Handicap (1800m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (29 November).
