About AP QE II Cup - History

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was first run in Happy Valley in 1975 and became an international event in 1995. In 1999, Audemars Piguet entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the race was re-titled the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth (QE) II Cup. In the same year, Audemars Piguet QEII Cup was granted international Group Two status by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee. Global trotter Jim And Tonic was the winner of this inaugural international Group race. The 2001 race has been elevated to international Group One.

This year is the fourth year in a row of Audemars Piguet's sponsoring of the QEII Cup, the international Group One event to be staged on Sunday, April 21 2002 at Sha Tin racecourse, thus, the first-time inclusion of the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup into the World Series Racing Championship. With a 40% increase in prize-money from last year to HK$14 million (over US$ 1.8 Million), the 2002 Audemars Piguet QE II Cup, a 2000 meter Group One event on turf, is the second leg of the World Series and a global cast of champions is already clamouring for a place in the line-up.

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