The Hong Kong Sprint will become the second-richest sprint race anywhere in the world after being granted international Group One status yesterday by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
'This is wonderful news and a vital step in our quest to make International Day in Hong Kong the turf racing world championships,' said Hong Kong Jockey Club director of racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, who has led the campaign to have the race lifted to the highest level.
A crucial part of the Hong Kong Jockey Club's application for the Group One tag was a promise to IFHA that it would lift the stakemoney for the Sprint to $10 million if the upgrade was approved, a figure placing the race behind only Dubai's US$2 million ($15.6 million) Golden Shaheen over 1,200 metres.
Last year's Breeders' Cup Sprint stakemoney in the United States came to US$1 million and the 1,000-metre Prix de l'Abbaye in France just over that figure.
The race has been won in the past two years by Danny Bougoure-trained Falvelon, who has returned to Australia each time to register a Group One win in his own country and helped to boost the profile of the race. Falvelon is slated to return this December to attempt a third.
'Usually, the authorities would use the average rating from the first four finishers as the guide to whether Group One status would be justified and I admit that we are just short of the published standard,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'Although I was optimistic, I was prepared if we were asked to wait another year on that basis. However, they have looked deeper than that and the IFHA has recognised the depth in quality of the horses which participate in the race even beyond the first four placings.'
