Olivier Peslier will replace Christophe Soumillon in the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys Championship at Happy Valley on Dec. 8. The Hong Kong Jockey Club made the announcement on Tuesday, one day after Soumillon was suspended for four days by the Japan Racing Association for careless riding aboard Buena Vista in the Japan Cup.
Skip to main content
Create Your DRF Account
New to DRF?
Everything you could possibly
need in one place
need in one place
Register
Don't have an account?
Register Here
DRF Past Performances
Jockey Christophe Soumillon had insult added to injury on Monday when he was suspended for four days by the Japan Racing Association for having caused the incident that led to the disqualification of his mount, Buena Vista, in the Japan Cup on Sunday. The French-based Belgian jockey had ridden the popular filly to an apparent 1 3/4-length triumph in the $5.7 million race, but in drifting in at the eighth pole, he was ruled by the stewards to have interfered with eventual runner-up Rose Kingdom, who was awarded the race after an agonizing 24-minute inquiry.
Buena Vista had the $5.7 million Japan Cup taken away from her by the stewards at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday in a controversial decision that denied the nation’s most popular horse a clear-cut victory. In place of the 9-10 favorite, the 8-1 runner-up Rose Kingdom was declared the winner.
Mike Smith will fly the Stars and Stripes for America in the World Super Jockeys Series at Tokyo Racecourse on Saturday. The three-race challenge will feature eight riders from six different countries in addition to seven Japanese jockeys.
The contest will begin with a one-mile dirt race, followed by a 1 1/4-mile turf race and a one-mile turf event. The winner will receive $35,700, the runner-up $23,800, and the third-place finisher $11,900.
Winchester will be the only American-trained horse competing on Hong Kong International Race Day at Sha Tin on Dec. 12. The Christophe Clement-trained winner of the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic and the Manhattan Handicap, Winchester has been selected by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to run in the 1 1/2-mile, $1.8 million Hong Kong Vase, in which he will run into the Melbourne Cup winner, Americain. Fourth most recently in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, Winchester, a 5-year-old son of Theatrical owned by Mr. and Mrs. Bert Firestone, is scheduled to depart for Hong Kong on Dec. 6.
Colm O’Donoghue will retain the ride on Joshua Tree, the hot Aidan O’Brien-trained prospect for the $6.1 million Japan Cup at Tokyo on Sunday. The confirmation of O’Donoghue as the rider for the Canadian International winner means that Johnny Murtagh has ridden his last race as contract rider for Coolmore. It also suggests that the O’Donoghue could be the Murtagh’s successor at Coolmore, especially as Christophe Soumillon has signed on as first string rider for Ecurie Wildenstein in France.
A record-setting performance by the 5-year-old New York-bred A Shin Forward propelled the Masoto Nishizono-trained son of Forest Wildcat to victory in the $2.3 million Mile Championship at Kyoto on Sunday. The 51-1 shot shaved .30 of a second off the track mark, getting the mile on a firm turf course in 1:31.80 while defeating the 2.70-1 favorite Danon Yoyo by a neck.
Trainer John Moore and jockey Darren Beadman scored a Group 2 stakes double Sunday at Sha Tin in Hong Kong.
In the $387,000 Jockey Club Sprint, Beadman rode 14-1 outsider One World to a dead-heat win with Singapore’s star sprinter Rocket Man. Both horses ran the six furlongs in 1:08.82 while prepping for the Hong Kong Sprint on Dec. 12.
Earlier on the card, Beadman guided 7-5 favorite Able One to a three-quarter length, wire-to-wire victory in the $387,000 Jockey Club Mile.
The Far East’s two best sprinters, Sacred Kingdom and Rocket Man, clash at Sha Tin on Sunday in the Group 2, $387,000 Jockey Club Sprint, the local prep for the Dec. 12 Hong Kong Sprint, at which the Carl O’Callaghan-trained Kinsale King is being aimed.
Trained by Ricky Yiu, Sacred Kingdom has won his last four races. That string began with his second triumph in last year’s six-furlong, Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint and concluded with a victory in the five-furlong Sha Tin Sprint Trophy on Oct. 1. Brett Prebble will ride the Australian-bred 7-year-old gelding in the six-furlong dash.