An esteemed collection of world-class horses led by Romantic Warrior, Ka Ying Rising, Voyage Bubble, Calandagan, Soul Rush, Satono Reve, Los Angeles, Al Riffa, Sosie and Docklands has been selected to contest the HK$130 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin on Sunday, 14 December.
By Declan Schuster
Two spots remain on the sought-after LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) roster before the final line-up is confirmed following Wednesday night’s (26 November) nine-race fixture at Happy Valley.
Vincent Ho (11 wins) leads Jerry Chau (10) in the race for a prized berth available to the leading homegrown rider. Both Ho and Chau have four mounts on Wednesday, while Luke Ferraris (15) holds a slender one-win advantage over Hugh Bowman (14) in the place designated to the next highest-ranked Hong Kong-based jockey.
Jantar Mantar clinched his second career championship in Japan with a win by 1 3/4 lengths in Sunday’s Grade 1 Mile Championship at Kyoto Racecourse.
Jantar Mantar (who paid $4.30 in American pools) won the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at a mile on turf in June. Those two wins are enough to give Jantar Mantar the title of 2025 champion miler.
By Paul Ryding
James McDonald delivered a masterful ride aboard Galaxy Patch to spring a surprise and claim the HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Private Wealth Jockey Club Mile (1600m), upsetting odds-on favourite My Wish in the process.
It was a first victory in 13 months for Pierre Ng-trained Galaxy Patch as James McDonald, the soon-to-be-named 2025 LONGINES World’s Best Jockey, registered the second win of his latest short-term stint in Hong Kong.
By Leo Schlink
Ka Ying Rising maintained a relentless pursuit of racing history and stretched his unbeaten sequence to 15 races with a devastating display of power and speed to land the HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (23 November).
Unvanquished since January 2024, Ka Ying Rising (128lb) obliterated nine rivals in clocking the second-fastest time in history over 1200m at Sha Tin – 1m 07.33s, marginally outside his own track record of 1m 07.20s – despite being eased down over the last 100m by jockey Zac Purton.
By Paul Ryding
Hong Kong fans will finally get the chance to see global superstar Romantic Warrior back on home soil on Sunday (23 November), almost a year after he last stepped out at Sha Tin.
The winner of 10 Group 1 races was last seen locally easing to victory in the 2024 edition of the G1 HK$40 million LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) but returns in Sunday’s HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup (2000m).
The local star Watch Me Rock will be a solid favorite to win his Group 1 debut in Saturday’s $967,800 Railway Stakes at a mile at Ascot Racecourse in Perth, Australia.
Finding the exacta is more problematic.
As of Thursday, five runners – Cosmic Crusader, Diamond Scene, Osipenko, Super Smink, and Western Empire – were between 6-1 and 8-1 in early betting. Cosmic Crusader was on the also-eligible list, however.
By Leo Schlink
David Hayes has sounded an ominous warning over Ka Ying Rising’s form as the world’s best sprinter bids to extend his winning streak to 15 consecutive races in the HK$5.35 million G2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint (1200m) at Sha Tin on Sunday (23 November).
