Cup day on track for grand upgrade
Hong Kong played host to the racing world at Sha Tin yesterday and the glittering International Races Day is going to be bigger.
Within an hour of the $10-million Group One Hong Kong Cup being won in magnificent style by French challenger Jim And Tonic, the Jockey Club said a major upgrading of three of the international races would almost certainly be sought.
This could lead to three international Group One races on next year's programme plus one Group Two race. That would put the fixture on a par with global events such as the Breeders' Cup and the Festival of British Racing.
And likely to be back in April is Jim And Tonic, whose victory in the Hong Kong Cup was his third success from three visits. 'He loves it here and I am sure we will return for the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in April,' trainer Francois Doumen said.
The club put up prize-money of almost $30 million for the four races - the Cup, Vase, Mile and Sprint - and some of it stayed at home. Fairy King Prawn won the inaugural running of the $5.3-million Hong Kong Sprint with another local, Crystal Charm, taking second.
It was a mixed day for superstar Frankie Dettori, who won the last race but had earlier been fined $3,000 by the stewards for kicking a horse after he dismounted.
There were 57,909 at Sha Tin, a drop on last year's 63,072, despite the highly publicised clash between Hong Kong hero Indigenous and Melbourne Cup winner Rogan Josh in the Vase.
