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Hong Kong excels with prominent showing in World��s Top 100 Group 1 Races

20/01/2016

Hong Kong horseracing continues to be a rising force at the elite world level. All 10 of the jurisdiction’s eligible races made the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races in 2015, with the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup a prominent ninth in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) official end-of-year list.

Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “The Hong Kong Jockey Club has strategically channeled its energies and its investments into developing a world class horseracing experience, and that has included ensuring that prize money for our international races is attractive to owners of the world’s elite horses. The fact that all 10 of our eligible races are ranked in the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races shows that our strategies are working and Hong Kong racing is establishing itself at the sport’s pinnacle.

“As well as one race in the top 10, we have eight of the world’s top 50, of which six are in the top 25. In total, 10% of the world’s best 100 Group 1 races are staged in Hong Kong. That is an even more impressive achievement when considered in context: only the UK, with 11, has more races in the top 50, while France and Japan have six each.”

The World’s Top 100 G1 Races are ranked by taking an average rating of the top four finishers in Group/Grade 1 races (for three-year-olds upwards) over the past three years, as determined by a panel of international handicappers. The Audemars Piguet QEII Cup achieved a three-year average of 120.83, rising to ninth from a position of 19th in 2014. Blazing Speed won last year’s edition by two lengths from Japan’s Staphanos with Australian star Criterion third.

Three Hong Kong races were staged as international Group 1 contests for the first time in 2015, having been classified as HKG1 races previously. The Stewards’ Cup (three-year average rating of 120.17) leaps straight into the top 100 list in 16th spot, sandwiched between the Dubai Sheema Classic and the Belmont Stakes; the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (119.50) debuts at equal 22nd, upsides two other Hong Kong contests, the Champions Mile (119.50) and the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (119.50); the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (119.25) ranks joint 28th, alongside the Dubai Turf.

The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (120.50) has risen from joint 25th to rank equal 11th with Japan’s Arima Kinen and the UK’s Eclipse Stakes following A Shin Hikari’s stunning victory over a top-class field in December; the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (117.92) is equal 45th, the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (116.58) equal 72nd and the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (116.17) joint 85th.

Mr. Anthony Kelly, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing Business & Operations, said: “It is a remarkable achievement for Hong Kong horseracing to be represented by 10 races in the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races and it is particularly pleasing to see our three new Group 1s perform so well. That total of 10 represents our entire Group 1 programme for 2015, and, looking ahead, it is exciting that our 11th and newest Group 1 race, the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, will be eligible for next year’s list.

“The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s high-end races have a reputation for excellence. The racing experience at Sha Tin is exceptional, Hong Kong’s best horses are world-class, and, with the Club’s positive approach to prize money levels, the races are incredibly attractive to the world’s leading owners. No Group 1 race in Hong Kong is worth less than HK$10 million and it is no coincidence that the HK$20 million AP QEII Cup and the HK$25 million Hong Kong Cup - the world’s most lucrative 2000-metre turf race - rank ninth and 11th. The fact that all of our eligible races have ranked among the world’s elite is testament to the Club’s successful implementation of its long range strategies.”

The list of the World’s Top 100 Group 1 Races was revealed during a ceremony at London’s Claridge’s Hotel on Tuesday, 19 January, at which the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (125.75) received the inaugural LONGINES World’s Best Horse Race Award. The Breeders’ Cup Classic (124.33) ranked second and the Juddmonte International (122.67) third.

 

The World’s Top 100 Group/Grade 1 Races:-

http://www.ifhaonline.org/default.asp?section=Racing&area=1

 

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