HK Champions Mile winner will compete against best in America
Hong Kong's status as a world leader in thoroughbred racing was given added recognition yesterday when one of the Jockey Club's international races became a recognised qualifying event for America's Breeders' Cup Mile.
The winner of the Group One HK$8 million Champions Mile, to be run at Sha Tin on April 29, will now gain automatic entry to the Breeders' Cup Mile in October, bypassing a raft of expensive nomination fees that apply to most American and European candidates. It becomes the first overseas race with Breeders' Cup affiliation.
Breeders' Cup Limited and the Hong Kong Jockey Club have also agreed to jointly fund a US$1 million bonus for the winner of the Breeders' Cup Mile-Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile double.
And yesterday's announcement also featured news that Hong Kong fans would this year, for the first time, be able to wager on the Breeders' Cup meeting.
Jockey Club chairman John Chan Cho-chak yesterday welcomed the news, saying the strategic partnership with Breeders' Cup Limited will strengthen Hong Kong's position at the 'cutting edge' of international racing.
'It is one of the greatest compliments yet paid to the continued rising quality of Hong Kong racing that two of our signature international races are to tie in with the Breeders' Cup,' Chan said.
