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World stars revealed for the LONGINES International Jockeys�� Championship

16/11/2016

An outstanding line-up of the world's best jockeys will compete at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday, 7 December for the HK$800,000 2016 LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship.

The annual four-race showcase at Hong Kong's iconic downtown venue is the richest and arguably the most competitive jockey challenge there is. Four of Hong Kong's elite riders and eight overseas aces will vie for the HK$500,000 winner's prize, with HK$200,000 going to the runner-up and HK$100,000 to the third-placed jockey.

Hong Kong's record-smashing champion Joao Moreira, a LONGINES IJC winner in 2012, will pit his wits and skills against home-based rivals and overseas challengers. The latter group will feature English super star Ryan Moore; Australian big-race ace Hugh Bowman; Ireland's nine-time champion Pat Smullen; Japan's win-machine Keita Tosaki; Italy's Japan-based dynamo Mirco Demuro; last year's winner, South Africa's Gavin Lerena; and two brilliant Frenchmen, Mickael Barzalona and the US-based Florent Geroux.    

Andrew Harding, the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Executive Director, Racing Authority, said: "The LONGINES IJC is established as perhaps the world's toughest jockey challenge, probably the most exciting and certainly the most lucrative. It brings together some of the world's very best riders and pitches them into a thrilling four-race contest around Happy Valley's floodlit arena, a track that is as stunning to behold as it is testing to ride around.

"We are delighted to have such a strong line-up of jockeys once again. This year's cast is about as good as it gets. Seven of the confirmed riders for the 2016 IJC are or have been champion jockey in a major jurisdiction and three are past IJC winners. The always passionate Happy Valley crowd is in for a great night to kick off the build-up to the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 11 December."

One of those past IJC winners, Moore, will seek a third LONGINES IJC victory at his 10th appearance. The English star is destined to become the first two-time winner of the annual LONGINES World's Best Jockey Award thanks to a phenomenal 2016 that has yielded 19 G1 wins so far.

Bowman, one of Australia's finest jockeys, has been crowned Sydney champion three times. The rider has enjoyed a stellar 2016: he piloted super mare Winx for back-to-back G1 Cox Plate victories and landed major Hong Kong triumphs atop Werther in the BMW Hong Kong Derby and G1 QEII Cup.

IJC debutant Geroux has made the USA his home since 2007 and has proven his merit as a rider for the biggest occasions. A top five jockey by earnings in the North America in 2016, he has notched nine G1 wins this term and has a career total of three Breeders' Cup wins on his CV.

Tosaki was third on his IJC debut last year and will return this time with a third consecutive JRA champion jockey title in his sights.

Smullen is Ireland's outstanding rider and partnered Harzand to an English Derby/Irish Derby double this year. He recently sealed a third consecutive championship in his homeland and ninth overall.

Barzalona won the English Derby at age 19 and at 25 he is already established as one of Europe's outstanding talents. He will make his IJC debut.

Five-time Italian champion Demuro is forging a successful career in Japan and 18 of his 31 career G1 wins have been achieved there.

Lerena earned a debut victory at last year's IJC. The 2014/15 South African champion dazzled beneath the floodlights and returned to Hong Kong for the second half of last season.

With Moreira forging well clear at the top of the local premiership, the remaining three Hong Kong-based rider slots will go to the two jockeys positioned second and third in the standings at the close of the cut-off date, Wednesday, 23 November. That tussle appears to be between former Hong Kong champion jockeys Zac Purton and Douglas Whyte and three-time Sydney champion Nash Rawiller. The fourth opening will go to Hong Kong's leading homegrown rider (a graduate of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Apprentice Jockeys' School) according to the standings on the above date.

The 2016 LONGINES IJC is a four-race competition in which the following points will be given to each jockey according to the placing of his mount, and the ranking of each jockey will be determined by the total number of points earned in the four races:

12 points for 1st; 6 points for 2nd; 4 points for 3rd.

In the case of dead-heats for any of the first three placings, points will be added and then divided by the number of horses involved. The appropriate points will then be awarded to the relevant jockey. The count-back will be to 4th place.

In the LONGINES IJC competition, substitute jockeys are eligible for points and related prize money.

The IJC champion will be the jockey with the highest accumulated points.

(*Local jockeys with 2 or 3lb claims are eligible for selection for the LONGINES IJC. There will be no claiming allowance in the four LONGINES IJC races.)
List of invited jockeys for 2016 LONGINES IJC


Representing Country/Region

Jockey

Remarks

Australia

Hugh Bowman

Three-time champion jockey in Sydney, and has 59 G1 wins in his career.

France

Mickael Barzalona

More than 600 career wins to date, nine at G1 level. Partnered Monterosso to win the 2012 Dubai World Cup.

Ireland

Pat Smullen

Nine-time champion in Ireland with almost 2000 career wins.

Italy

Mirco Demuro

Five-time Italian champion & G1 ace in Japan. Won 2011 Dubai World Cup with Victoire Pisa.

Japan

Keita Tosaki

Champion jockey in Japan in 2014 and 2015 with over 2500 career wins.

South Africa

Gavin Lerena

IJC winner in 2015. Champion jockey in South Africa in 2014/15. Two-time South African Derby winner. Holds record for most wins in South Africa in a month - 42 in June, 2015.

UK

Ryan Moore

Three-time British champion jockey with over 2000 career wins, 87 at G1 level. LONGINES World's Best Jockey Award winner in 2014. Two-time IJC winner in 2009 and 2010.

USA

Florent Geroux

French Champion Apprentice in 2005. Three wins at the Breeders' Cup in the last two years. Currently tied for the most pattern race wins in America in 2016 with 29.

Hong Kong

Joao Moreira

Reigning Hong Kong Champion Jockey; IJC winner in 2012.

Hong Kong

Highest ranked jockey (1)

As at 23 November

Hong Kong

Highest ranked jockey (2)

As at 23 November

Hong Kong

Leading local jockey

As at 23 November

Profiles of 2016 LONGINES IJC jockeys

LONGINES IJC – Past Results

Hugh Bowman
Photo 1:
Hugh Bowman

Mickael Barzalona
Photo 2:
Mickael Barzalona

Pat Smullen
Photo 3:
Pat Smullen

Mirco Demuro
Photo 4:
Mirco Demuro

Keita Tosaki
Photo 5:
Keita Tosaki

Gavin Lerena
Photo 6:
Gavin Lerena

Ryan Moore
Photo 7:
Ryan Moore

Florent Geroux
Photo 8:
Florent Geroux

Joao Moreira
Photo 9:
Joao Moreira

 

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