https://www.scmp.com/rss/513607/feed After graduating, Mark joined Racing Post in 1996 and was its chief sports writer until he moved to Australia in 2001. In Australia, he was the media manager of, among others, Centrebet, Sydney FC and Tom Waterhouse, and he ran the Western Australian Turf Club's racing and wagering operations. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com It’s that time of year again when Hong Kong racing fans eat too much, drink too much and like the early-season runs of Derby-eligible gallopers too much. Last term, Beautyverse became the first nominal Derby favourite at Sha Tin on November 6 when he won his Hong Kong debut in Class Two from the outside gate over a 1,600m trip that most students of Australian form thought was shorter than his optimal distance. Those punters who declared Beautyverse, the artist formerly known as 2022 South... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246427/unbelievable-excitement-hong-kong-derby-countdown-ramps?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246427/unbelievable-excitement-hong-kong-derby-countdown-ramps?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Dec 2023 23:00:19 +0000 Tony Cruz knows what it takes to win a Hong Kong Derby – four victories as a jockey and two triumphs as a trainer – and he thinks Fallon, who caused a Boxing Day boilover at Sha Tin, could give him a shot at a magnificent seventh success in the feature event. Cruz, who rode Co-Tack (1983), Tea For Two II (1987), Clear City (1988) and Makarpura Star (1995) to Derby wins before saddling Lucky Owners (2004) and Helene Mascot (2008) for their victories in the city’s most prestigious race, was... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246321/fallon-cruises-last-first-and-excites-six-time-hong-kong-derby-winning-legend?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246321/fallon-cruises-last-first-and-excites-six-time-hong-kong-derby-winning-legend?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Dec 2023 14:01:05 +0000 Xponential is not in the same league as Golden Sixty, but like Hong Kong’s champion miler, Douglas Whyte’s sprinter produced a career-best performance at the age of eight to end the calendar year on a high. A race winner in each of his five seasons as a member of Whyte’s stable, Xponential posted his first Class Two victory at Sha Tin on Boxing Day when he held on to win the public holiday’s feature event, the Choi Hung Handicap (1,200m) on the all-weather circuit. Almost the rank outsider of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246315/xponentials-growth-continues-career-best-performance-eight-years-old?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246315/xponentials-growth-continues-career-best-performance-eight-years-old?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Dec 2023 12:03:09 +0000 Boxing Day racing at Sha Tin features the four-timer attempt of Classic Series dark horse Chancheng Glory in the last race on the card and the returns of Hugh Bowman and Matthew Poon Ming-fai from their injury- and disciplinary-related absences, respectively. Chancheng Glory contests the Pak Tin Handicap (1,600m) under Lyle Hewitson after winning the past three of his four starts this season, with the galloper’s hat-trick of recent victories coming over the course and distance of the $13 million... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246150/chancheng-seeks-more-glory-hugh-bowman-and-matthew-poon-return-lengthy-absences?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246150/chancheng-seeks-more-glory-hugh-bowman-and-matthew-poon-return-lengthy-absences?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Dec 2023 08:07:34 +0000 It took two days for second-season trainer Jamie Richards and former New Zealand champion jockey Danielle Johnson to settle on Spencer William Richards for the name of their baby boy. “William is my middle name, my uncle’s middle name and my grandfather’s middle name, so he was going to be something William Richards, but Danielle wasn’t quite sure what his first name was going to be. She sorted that out last night. He arrived on the 21st – two days ago. We had a few different ideas but couldn’t... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246123/kiwi-champions-jamie-richards-and-danielle-johnson-welcome-baby-boy-spencer-william?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246123/kiwi-champions-jamie-richards-and-danielle-johnson-welcome-baby-boy-spencer-william?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Dec 2023 11:36:45 +0000 Ensued established himself as the nominal Hong Kong Derby (2,000m) favourite at Sha Tin on Saturday when he won an incident-packed Class Two Yan Chai Trophy over the Classic Series finale’s course and distance. John Size’s British import made it three victories from four Hong Kong starts, passing the post three-quarters of a length in front of Woodfire Bro, whom Jockey Club stewards demoted to third after Five G Patch’s connections lodged an objection alleging interference, which the panel of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246111/champion-trainer-sizing-hong-kong-derby-assault-british-import-ensued?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3246111/champion-trainer-sizing-hong-kong-derby-assault-british-import-ensued?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Dec 2023 10:26:17 +0000 How do you solve a problem like Manfred? If you’re the Jockey Club, you don’t watch The Sound of Music and sing along with the nuns. No, if you run Hong Kong racing, you go through Manfred Man Ka-leung’s recent results with a fine-tooth comb and make more revisions to your frequently updated policies on extending trainer licences beyond specific retirement ages. Early last season, Man was desperate for clarity from the Jockey Club regarding his future, with the letter of the organisation’s own... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245942/jockey-club-adds-good-horses-rule-extend-lucky-sweynesse-trainer-manfred-mans-licence?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245942/jockey-club-adds-good-horses-rule-extend-lucky-sweynesse-trainer-manfred-mans-licence?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2023 23:00:29 +0000 British trainer David Eustace will dissolve his highly successful partnership with Australian handler Ciaron Maher next month and join the Jockey Club’s ranks in Hong Kong in time for the beginning of next season. The pedigree page of Eustace, whose Australian Group One wins alongside Maher include the 2020 Cox Plate (2,040m) with Sir Dragonet and the 2022 Melbourne Cup (3,200m) with Gold Trip, drips with black type and features a strong family connection to Hong Kong. The 32-year-old’s father,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245808/hong-kong-jockey-club-unveils-british-trainer-david-eustace-and-extends-local-handler-man?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245808/hong-kong-jockey-club-unveils-british-trainer-david-eustace-and-extends-local-handler-man?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Dec 2023 01:31:43 +0000 Like Aston Villa captain John McGinn, Pierre Ng Pang-chi refuses to buy into title talk. But whereas one can understand McGinn’s public stance because his third-ranked team is $12 to win the Premier League for the first time, Ng would be a much shorter price to win his maiden trainers’ championship if the Jockey Club’s betting operation could offer such an option. When Jumbo Fortune passed the Sha Tin winning post first in Sunday’s sixth race, it extended Ng’s run of consecutive meetings with at... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245528/pierre-ng-will-have-talk-about-title-if-he-keeps-pace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245528/pierre-ng-will-have-talk-about-title-if-he-keeps-pace?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2023 23:14:30 +0000 A former Hong Kong horse and people connected to the city were central to the storybook ending of Australian jockey Damien Oliver’s illustrious career on Saturday. Munhamek, who competed in Hong Kong as Hall Of Champ and won up to Class Three level before Caspar Fownes retired him in January 2022, won the A$1.5 million (HK$7.5 million) Group Three Damien Oliver Gold Rush (1,400m) in the 51-year-old rider’s last start. Oliver’s farewell meeting in his home city of Perth was not going according to... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245392/former-hong-kong-residents-play-key-roles-australian-racings-storybook-ending?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245392/former-hong-kong-residents-play-key-roles-australian-racings-storybook-ending?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Dec 2023 13:24:06 +0000 Pierre Ng Pang-chi did more than train at least one winner at the 13th consecutive Hong Kong meeting on Sunday – the second-season sensation extended his championship lead to 13 with a Sha Tin treble. Ng entrusted only five gallopers with continuing his winning sequence that began at Sha Tin on November 5 when I Give and Drombeg Banner saluted. Super Commander finished seventh in the Class Four Lukfook Jewellery Diapure Handicap (1,000m). Master Of Fortune was slow away before he ended 11th in... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245385/pierre-ng-trains-winner-13th-consecutive-meeting-extends-championship-lead-13?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245385/pierre-ng-trains-winner-13th-consecutive-meeting-extends-championship-lead-13?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Dec 2023 12:02:54 +0000 Sixty-five thousand people witnessed, arguably, the finest individual performance in Hong Kong racing history last weekend, and so extraordinary was Golden Sixty’s Group One Mile win you can bet thousands more will claim to have been on course when Hongkongers talk about the wonder horse in the coming years. Golden Sixty became the seventh galloper to win a Group One race in Hong Kong aged eight or more years old when, on Sunday, he beat fellow Derby champion Voyage Bubble by one and a half... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245122/sixty-five-thousand-saw-golden-sixtys-best-many-more-will-claim-they-did?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3245122/sixty-five-thousand-saw-golden-sixtys-best-many-more-will-claim-they-did?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Dec 2023 22:46:54 +0000 James McDonald declared Romantic Warrior “the toughest racehorse I’ve ever sat on” after Danny Shum Chap-shing’s globetrotter returned from Australia to win the Group One Longines Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) at Sha Tin on Sunday and join California Memory as a two-time winner of the city’s richest race. Romantic Warrior, who won the Group One Cox Plate (2,040m) at Moonee Valley on October 28, beat Irish raider Luxembourg – a top-level victor at two, three and four – by a short head to equal the Hong... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244567/james-mcdonald-declares-back-back-hong-kong-cup-champion-toughest-racehorse-ive-ever-sat?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244567/james-mcdonald-declares-back-back-hong-kong-cup-champion-toughest-racehorse-ive-ever-sat?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Dec 2023 13:24:25 +0000 Junko won the slowest-ever Group One Longines Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) at Sha Tin on Sunday when Andre Fabre and Maxime Guyon, the trainer and rider who combined with Flintshire in 2014, also contributed to the end of France’s nine-year wait for its 15th victory at the city’s marquee meeting. Remarkably, Junko’s one-length defeat of Japanese stayer Zeffiro – the Land of the Rising Sun’s favoured runner, $2.3 market leader Lebensstil, finished last – means that Fabre has trained the winners of the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244551/junko-wins-slowest-hong-kong-vase-end-frances-nine-year-wait-15th-international-day-victory?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244551/junko-wins-slowest-hong-kong-vase-end-frances-nine-year-wait-15th-international-day-victory?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 10 Dec 2023 10:33:11 +0000 Simon and Ed Crisford-trained stayer West Wind Blows is out of Sunday’s Group One Longines Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) at Sha Tin, reducing the field to eight. “The Department of Veterinary Regulation, Welfare and Biosecurity Policy has determined, upon examination, that West Wind Blows has an injury to the left fore leg, and accordingly, has been withdrawn from the Hong Kong Vase on veterinary advice,” Jockey Club chief stipendiary steward Marc Van Gestel said. West Wind Blows joins Russian... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244504/simon-and-ed-crisford-trained-west-wind-blows-becomes-latest-scratching-hong-kong-vase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244504/simon-and-ed-crisford-trained-west-wind-blows-becomes-latest-scratching-hong-kong-vase?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Dec 2023 09:53:28 +0000 Zac Purton rates Sunday’s Group One Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) favourite Lucky Sweynesse “marginally better” than Aerovelocity ahead of the former’s second attempt to join the latter on the HK$26 million race’s illustrious honour roll. Two of Purton’s record 10 Hong Kong International Races wins have occurred in the Sprint, and he combined with Aerovelocity for both of them, in 2014 and 2016. Purton’s connection to Aerovelocity is a deep one – during a recent interview with the Post, his... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244483/zac-purton-rates-lucky-sweynesse-marginally-better-hong-kong-sprint-hero-aerovelocity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244483/zac-purton-rates-lucky-sweynesse-marginally-better-hong-kong-sprint-hero-aerovelocity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Dec 2023 04:19:37 +0000 Seven is not one of the most auspicious integers in Chinese numerology. However, the connections of Hong Kong galloper Romantic Warrior are hoping it will be lucky for them in another major event this weekend. When Romantic Warrior’s owner, Peter Lau Pak-fai, drew seven at Thursday’s barrier draw for Sunday’s Group One Longines Hong Kong Cup (2,000m), his mind and those of trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing and rider James McDonald flashed back to last year’s edition of the city’s richest race and... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244211/romantic-warriors-connections-hope-seven-magnificent-them-again-sunday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244211/romantic-warriors-connections-hope-seven-magnificent-them-again-sunday?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Dec 2023 08:10:16 +0000 Well-credentialed Japanese stayer Shahryar is out of Sunday’s Group One Longines Hong Kong Vase (2,400m). Shahryar was a notable omission from the field for the first of Sunday’s Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) feature events when the Jockey Club published the acceptances for Sha Tin’s marquee meeting. “The Department of Veterinary Regulation, Welfare and Biosecurity Policy have advised that Shahryar has been identified to have a potential health issue, and therefore, has been withdrawn,”... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244140/three-time-group-one-winning-japanese-stayer-shahryar-out-hong-kong-vase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244140/three-time-group-one-winning-japanese-stayer-shahryar-out-hong-kong-vase?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 07 Dec 2023 02:22:40 +0000 Japanese racing expert Toshi Onikubo has nominated emerging stayer Lebensstil as his country’s best chance of winning a Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) feature event for the fifth consecutive year. Onikubo – in Hong Kong to watch 14 Japanese gallopers attempt to add to the Land of the Rising Sun’s 20 HKIR victories, which include at least one win in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 – thinks Lebensstil is the horse to beat in Sunday’s Group One Hong Kong Vase (2,400m). “The Vase always... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244093/japanese-analysts-most-positive-prognosis-regards-hong-kong-vase-contender-lebensstil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244093/japanese-analysts-most-positive-prognosis-regards-hong-kong-vase-contender-lebensstil?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 11:10:33 +0000 Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, the only handler with runners in all four of Sunday’s Group One events at the Longines Hong Kong International Races, arrived in the city on Wednesday morning and headed straight to Sha Tin to oversee their trackwork sessions. Aesop’s Fables, Cairo, Luxembourg and Warm Heart will represent O’Brien in this weekend’s features. While the three-time Hong Kong Vase-winning conditioner is generally reluctant to rank his gallopers publicly, his trackside comments suggest... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244057/longer-race-better-chance-aidan-obrien-celebrating-hong-kong-international-races-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244057/longer-race-better-chance-aidan-obrien-celebrating-hong-kong-international-races-success?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 08:19:01 +0000 Kiwi superstar James McDonald is the consensus pick of the South China Morning Post’s racing tipsters to win Wednesday night’s Longines International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley. Jockey Club odds compilers could not split McDonald and Ryan Moore when they opened their IJC fixed-odds market, but while punters look set to send off the British rider as the favourite, our panel of experts believe the New Zealander is a better bet. There are four IJC point-scoring races – the fourth,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244028/who-wins-international-jockeys-championship-happy-valley-heres-what-our-tipsters-think?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3244028/who-wins-international-jockeys-championship-happy-valley-heres-what-our-tipsters-think?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2023 04:56:48 +0000 Dan Meagher could find positives in a cloud of electrons. His beloved father, Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee John, has advanced dementia and no knowledge of his youngest son’s spectacular Singapore successes. However, according to the conditioner of Group One Longines Hong Kong Mile outsider Lim’s Kosciuszko, it is a small mercy his dad does not know Lion City racing is on death row ahead of its scheduled execution in October 2024. “If he knew Kranji was closing, he’d be the most... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243892/if-he-knew-kranji-was-closing-hed-be-most-heartbroken-bloke-world-dan-meagher?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243892/if-he-knew-kranji-was-closing-hed-be-most-heartbroken-bloke-world-dan-meagher?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Dec 2023 06:53:40 +0000 Zac Purton will ride a Caspar Fownes-trained runner for the first time since September 2021 in the final leg of Wednesday night’s Longines International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley. The last time Purton and Fownes combined was when Group One-winning miler Southern Legend finished sixth behind Tony Cruz’s Buddies in the Group Three Celebration Cup (1,400m) at Sha Tin two years ago. Last-start winner Kaholo Angel will bring Hong Kong’s six-time champion jockey and four-time... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243771/zac-purton-and-caspar-fownes-team-first-time-september-2021-international-jockeys-championship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243771/zac-purton-and-caspar-fownes-team-first-time-september-2021-international-jockeys-championship?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Dec 2023 08:40:59 +0000 Alexis Badel’s week started with him losing the ride on Wellington in the coming Longines Group One Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m), reached its halfway point with him back aboard the defending champion and finished with him riding a double at Sha Tin. Badel, who thought Ryan Moore – not for the first time – had taken his place on Wellington in a top-level dash before it transpired he would retain the ride aboard the Jamie Richards-trained speedster in next weekend’s HK$26 million event, steered Ping... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243696/alexis-badel-begins-week-wellington-and-ends-it-back-aboard-champ-and-riding-double?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243696/alexis-badel-begins-week-wellington-and-ends-it-back-aboard-champ-and-riding-double?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 Dec 2023 13:39:15 +0000 Listen to Adam Blencowe on any of Racing and Sports’ podcasts, and it takes only a couple of minutes to realise the Australian analyst doesn’t take himself seriously, but he’s all business when it comes to assessing the performances of gallopers. With little more than a week to the Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) at Sha Tin, this week’s Tongue Tie Off reveals the expert views of Blencowe, the irreverent handicapper whose ratings are anything but irrelevant, on this year’s four... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243436/adam-blencowe-irreverent-handicapper-whose-ratings-arent-irrelevant?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3243436/adam-blencowe-irreverent-handicapper-whose-ratings-arent-irrelevant?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:12:54 +0000 James McDonald enjoyed a wonderful return to the Hong Kong racing scene at Sha Tin on Sunday, notching wins with his first ride and in the day’s main event. Only hours after arriving in Hong Kong to start his five-week stint, Kiwi superstar McDonald was victorious on John Size’s undefeated three-year-old sprinter, Wunderbar, in the Class Four Chevalier Lifts & Escalators Handicap (1,000m) and Tony Cruz’s The Golden Scenery in the Class One Chevalier Cup (1,600m). Whereas McDonald rode Wunderbar... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242873/james-mcdonald-enjoys-wonderful-return-hong-kong-racing-scene-sha-tin-double?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242873/james-mcdonald-enjoys-wonderful-return-hong-kong-racing-scene-sha-tin-double?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 12:09:31 +0000 Nicole Purton, the eldest daughter of a Kiwi jockey who rode 104 Group One winners and the wife of Hong Kong’s reigning king of the weighing room, has been an HRH – her racing highness – all of her life. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, Purton reveals why she did not follow her father and uncles into the family business of race riding, the Hong Kong season she thinks would have made for a compelling fly-on-the-wall documentary series and the only person who gets away with critiquing her husband’s... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242649/nicole-purton-only-cash-can-tell-zac-hes-had-rubbish-night?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242649/nicole-purton-only-cash-can-tell-zac-hes-had-rubbish-night?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Nov 2023 22:08:38 +0000 Sha Tin’s marquee meeting is likely to have an American flavour for the first time since 2017 after the Jockey Club included Christophe Clement-trained stayer Soldier Rising in this year’s HK$24 million Group One Longines Hong Kong Vase (2,400m) field. Soldier Rising, whom French conditioner Andre Fabre trained in his two- and three-year-old seasons, has competed under Clement’s banner in the United States over the past two and a half years. Even though Soldier Rising, set to become the first... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242454/soldier-rising-adds-american-flavour-hong-kong-international-races-first-time-six-years?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242454/soldier-rising-adds-american-flavour-hong-kong-international-races-first-time-six-years?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Nov 2023 08:33:51 +0000 Golden Sixty is likely to face a capacity field for the first time since the 2020 Derby (2,000m) when he attempts to become the first galloper to win three Group One Longines Hong Kong Miles in non-consecutive years. The connections of 13 runners, including five from Japan and one each from France, Ireland and Singapore, are keen to take on Golden Sixty as he seeks to regain the title he won in 2020, retained in 2021 but lost in 2022 when one of his local rivals, California Spangle, beat him by... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242445/capacity-field-awaits-hong-kong-mile-favourite-golden-sixty-first-time-2020-derby?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242445/capacity-field-awaits-hong-kong-mile-favourite-golden-sixty-first-time-2020-derby?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Nov 2023 07:46:38 +0000 Lucky Sweynesse became the first speedster to carry a penalty to victory in a Jockey Club Sprint since 2015 winner Gold-Fun when he was the opening leg of Zac Purton’s Group Two double at Sha Tin on Sunday. Ten individual gallopers, including Mr Stunning and Wellington in back-to-back editions, had failed to lug 128 pounds to Jockey Club Sprint (1,200m) glory prior to Lucky Sweynesse running down pacesetting Victor The Winner and taking out this year’s renewal of the BOCHK Private... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242087/lucky-sweynesse-banks-second-jockey-club-sprint-owners-explain-why-they-stayed-home?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3242087/lucky-sweynesse-banks-second-jockey-club-sprint-owners-explain-why-they-stayed-home?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Nov 2023 12:09:16 +0000 Three-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty has millions of fans around the world, but possibly none bigger than American photographer Alex Evers. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, Eclipse Award winner Evers talks about how the Jockey Club scouted him, the way in which Derek Leung Ka-chun’s only Group One victory transformed his international career, and of course, the special connection he feels to Golden Sixty. What was your introduction to racing? My parents would go to work, and they’d... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241810/american-photographers-special-connection-hong-kongs-champion-horse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241810/american-photographers-special-connection-hong-kongs-champion-horse?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Nov 2023 11:49:09 +0000 Dylan Mo Hin-tung rode his first winner since May when he combined with 11-start maiden Multidarling at Happy Valley on Wednesday night to delay John Size’s inevitable 1,500th victory in Hong Kong. Mo had ridden 59 consecutive losers before Multidarling ran down Size-trained Act Of Faith to take out the first section of the Class Four Kyoto Handicap (1,200m) by one and a quarter lengths at $10.8. Multidarling transported Mo to his first success since Colonel, who finished sixth in the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241685/dylan-mo-breaks-six-month-drought-and-delays-john-sizes-inevitable-1500th-hong-kong-win?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241685/dylan-mo-breaks-six-month-drought-and-delays-john-sizes-inevitable-1500th-hong-kong-win?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Nov 2023 16:00:17 +0000 Hugh Bowman and Keith Yeung Ming-lun miraculously avoided sustaining serious injuries in a nasty fall during Saturday’s Class One Panasonic Cup (1,400m) that claimed Tuchel’s life and took the gloss off Luke Ferraris’ biggest win in Hong Kong. Bowman hit the turf when his mount, Panasonic Cup second favourite Tuchel, broke down 125m from the finish line and bumped into Yeung-ridden Find My Love, with Jockey Club vets euthanising last season’s Group Three Premier Plate (1,800m) champion in front... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241207/nasty-panasonic-cup-fall-takes-gloss-luke-ferraris-biggest-hong-kong-win?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241207/nasty-panasonic-cup-fall-takes-gloss-luke-ferraris-biggest-hong-kong-win?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Nov 2023 11:56:34 +0000 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (2,200m) champion Geraldina must bounce back to form at Kyoto on Sunday to become the Group One race’s fifth multiple winner and convince her connections she should contest next month’s Longines Hong Kong Vase (2,400m). Since winning last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup by one and three-quarter lengths from subsequent Group One Hong Kong Vase heroine Win Marilyn, Geraldina has failed to make the top two in any of her five starts, including beating only Tourbillon Diamond in... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241186/geraldina-looks-retain-queen-elizabeth-ii-cup-crown-sunday-and-book-hong-kong-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3241186/geraldina-looks-retain-queen-elizabeth-ii-cup-crown-sunday-and-book-hong-kong-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Nov 2023 07:53:52 +0000 Last month’s Group One Cox Plate (2,040m) at Moonee Valley made an Australian celebrity of not only Romantic Warrior but also Toto Wong Ching-to, the Jockey Club commentator whose Cantonese call and post-race reaction went viral on social media. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, Wong reveals his Chinese namesake won one of Macau’s feature races, his childhood dream was to ride horses for a living rather than call them and his future ambition is to commentate on more Hong Kong triumphs overseas. How... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240989/cantonese-commentator-toto-wong-gains-overseas-fans-cox-plate-call-and-reaction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240989/cantonese-commentator-toto-wong-gains-overseas-fans-cox-plate-call-and-reaction?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Nov 2023 23:34:20 +0000 Sunday’s Group Three Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse (1,800m) winner Encountered carried Derek Leung Ka-chun to his most prestigious victory since the 2021 Jockey Club Cup, and this year’s edition of the Group Two race over 2,000m in two weeks is likely to be the prosperous partnership’s next assignment. Not since Reliable Team’s surprise neck success in the Jockey Club Cup two seasons ago – he was the $17.30 sixth favourite in the seven-runner event – had Leung, Hong Kong’s leading local rider in the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240416/derek-leung-pockets-first-group-win-two-years-encountered-bags-ladies-purse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240416/derek-leung-pockets-first-group-win-two-years-encountered-bags-ladies-purse?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Nov 2023 12:18:34 +0000 The Jockey Club has stood down British rider Harry Bentley from all racing activities with immediate effect, pending his attendance at a stewards’ inquiry into a potential disciplinary matter. On Friday night, the Jockey Club issued a brief statement in which it advised that Bentley, who has ridden seven Hong Kong winners this season, would not be permitted to ride in races, trials and trackwork until he attends the hearing, the time and date for which the stewards have yet to set. Connections... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240294/jockey-club-stands-down-harry-bentley-all-racing-activities-immediate-effect?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240294/jockey-club-stands-down-harry-bentley-all-racing-activities-immediate-effect?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Nov 2023 12:42:22 +0000 Australia will have a collective tea break for three and a half minutes on Tuesday when six-time Hong Kong champion jockey Zac Purton rides Absurde in the simulcast Group One Melbourne Cup (3,200m), the 163rd edition of the race that stops a nation. Jockey Club head of racing product Greg Carpenter is synonymous with the Melbourne Cup, an event with which he has been obsessed for half a century. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, Carpenter talks about his journey from strapping horses in his rural... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240156/jockey-club-executive-greg-carpenters-obsession-race-stops-nation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3240156/jockey-club-executive-greg-carpenters-obsession-race-stops-nation?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Nov 2023 00:19:48 +0000 Ricky Yiu Poon-fai was left wishing the Jockey Club would stage more weekend meetings at Happy Valley after last term’s Hong Kong Derby-winning trainer saddled the final three winners on Sunday’s card at the city circuit. “What a good Sunday meeting at the Valley. I wish the club had more Sunday meetings at the Valley,” Yiu said after Precise Express, Golden Artie and Splendid Living won consecutive races to wrap up the venue’s only daytime programme this season. Precise Express landed the first... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239594/running-treble-wrap-card-makes-ricky-yiu-happy-valley-splendid-sunday?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239594/running-treble-wrap-card-makes-ricky-yiu-happy-valley-splendid-sunday?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Oct 2023 12:29:45 +0000 Hong Kong racing fans all around the world know Jenny Chapman as Jenny from the Paddock, the parade ring analyst who runs her eye over every runner at Happy Valley and Sha Tin and voices her views on the Jockey Club’s English-language broadcast. But in this week’s edition of Tongue Tie Off, a Q&A series with racing personalities connected to Hong Kong, Chapman reveals she was a Caulfield trackwork jockey by day and a Melbourne disc jockey by night before she and her husband, bloodstock agent... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239354/jenny-chapman-reveals-former-double-life-trackwork-jockey-day-disc-jockey-night?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239354/jenny-chapman-reveals-former-double-life-trackwork-jockey-day-disc-jockey-night?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Oct 2023 23:20:44 +0000 Mark Newnham trained his first Sha Tin winners in back-to-back races on Wednesday night’s all-dirt card, demonstrating his exceptional horsemanship with All Is Ready’s win and rewarding one of his staunchest supporters with Mission Bravo’s victory. South African jockey Luke Ferraris was aboard Class Five Tsim Mei Fung Handicap (1,200m) winner All Is Ready and Class Four Tiu Yue Yung Handicap (1,650m) victor Mission Bravo for Newnham as the Australian handler lifted himself off the bottom of the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239192/mark-newnham-shows-skill-and-repays-owner-first-sha-tin-winners?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3239192/mark-newnham-shows-skill-and-repays-owner-first-sha-tin-winners?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Oct 2023 15:30:36 +0000 Sight Success and Brenton Avdulla combined for the best Hong Kong win of their careers at Sha Tin on Sunday as Lucky Sweynesse failed to justify odds-on favouritism for the second straight Group Two Premier Bowl (1,200m) and suffered consecutive losses for the first time. Sent off at $24 in the five-runner race – Jockey Club stewards scratched Stoltz during the Premier Bowl preliminaries – Sight Success got the better of $1.4 favourite Lucky Sweynesse in a ding-dong battle down Sha Tin’s home... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238807/success-pleasant-sight-brenton-avdulla-not-punters-lucky-sweynesse-loses-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238807/success-pleasant-sight-brenton-avdulla-not-punters-lucky-sweynesse-loses-again?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Oct 2023 11:57:00 +0000 Darren Flindell was a fixture of Hong Kong racing’s English-language broadcast team as a presenter and commentator for 16 years before he returned to the city of his birth in 2015 to call Sydney’s races. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, a Q&A series with racing personalities with connections to Hong Kong, Flindell relives his favourite and least favourite commentaries, nominates the Sydney-based riders and trainers he’d try to lure to the city if he was a Jockey Club executive and explains why... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238554/darren-flindell-memorable-calls-potential-hong-kong-recruits-and-succulent-chinese-meals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238554/darren-flindell-memorable-calls-potential-hong-kong-recruits-and-succulent-chinese-meals?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Oct 2023 23:00:34 +0000 Caspar Fownes is “always there for him if he needs me – 100 per cent”, but the handler must try to extend his lead in the unofficial Happy Valley trainers’ championship without Vincent Ho Chak-yiu as his former apprentice begins his suspension. With Ho’s appeal into the severity of his 10-meeting ban set for Thursday, the galloper at the centre of the furore, Capital Delight, is one of the three last-start winners among the seven-strong Fownes squad for Wednesday night’s nine-event... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238088/caspar-fownes-supports-vincent-ho-capital-delight-returns-races-without-banned-jockey?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238088/caspar-fownes-supports-vincent-ho-capital-delight-returns-races-without-banned-jockey?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:46:33 +0000 California Spangle joined Beauty Generation as a back-to-back Group Two Sha Tin Trophy (1,600m) champion on Sunday as his new rider, Hugh Bowman, completed his second Hong Kong four-timer and his former rider, Zac Purton, attracted a pointed assessment from the winner’s trainer, Tony Cruz. Bowman, who also rode Kyrus Unicorn, Summit Cheers and Noble Pursuit to Sha Tin successes to equal his highest number of victories at a single city meeting, took California Spangle straight to the front in the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238019/tony-cruz-tells-zac-purton-he-made-wrong-decision-after-california-spangle-completes-hugh-bowman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3238019/tony-cruz-tells-zac-purton-he-made-wrong-decision-after-california-spangle-completes-hugh-bowman?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Oct 2023 11:57:50 +0000 Andrew Clarke runs Living Legends, the international home of rest for champion gallopers in Melbourne’s north, where you’ll find five Hong Kong Horse of the Year winners – Beauty Generation, Bullish Luck, Designs On Rome, Good Ba Ba and Silent Witness – enjoying their retirements in lush paddocks. In this week’s Tongue Tie Off, a Q&A series with racing personalities connected to Hong Kong, Clarke talks about the Silent Witness superfan who’ll never forgive Bullish Luck, Beauty Generation’s... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237723/meet-worn-out-old-australian-vet-loving-life-some-worn-out-old-hong-kong-horses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237723/meet-worn-out-old-australian-vet-loving-life-some-worn-out-old-hong-kong-horses?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Oct 2023 11:17:38 +0000 It’ll be of little comfort to the Hong Kong punters who did their dough at World Pool odds of $1.55 when Romantic Warrior finished fourth in the Turnbull Stakes on Saturday, but some of Australian racing’s sharpest minds have found reasons to believe his dream of Cox Plate glory is far from dead. Shane Baker and Vince Accardi developed the ratings methodologies behind premium Australian services Punting Form and Daily Sectionals, respectively. For the past 11 years, Punting Form has clocked and... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237332/australian-analysts-agree-james-mcdonald-romantic-warrior-if-youre-dropping-him-youre-harsh-critic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237332/australian-analysts-agree-james-mcdonald-romantic-warrior-if-youre-dropping-him-youre-harsh-critic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Oct 2023 10:14:20 +0000 Romantic Warrior lost Cox Plate favouritism but not superstar rider James McDonald’s faith in his ability to win Australia’s weight-for-age championship race later this month when Danny Shum Chap-shing’s galloper finished a four-length fourth in Saturday’s Group One Turnbull Stakes (2,000m) at Flemington. Australian bookmakers demoted Romantic Warrior below Amelia’s Jewel in their Cox Plate markets after the three-time Group One winner failed to become only the second Hong Kong-trained horse to... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237158/turnbull-stakes-fourth-sees-romantic-warrior-lose-cox-plate-favouritism-not-james-mcdonalds-faith?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237158/turnbull-stakes-fourth-sees-romantic-warrior-lose-cox-plate-favouritism-not-james-mcdonalds-faith?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Oct 2023 06:50:08 +0000 Superstar rider James McDonald, a perfect three from three aboard “outstanding racehorse” Romantic Warrior, holds no concerns about either Flemington’s anticlockwise track or soft surface and argues there are no holes in the form of Saturday’s Group One Turnbull Stakes (2,000m) favourite. McDonald, who received the 2022 Longines World’s Best Jockey Award at December’s Hong Kong International Races gala dinner, knows overseas punters are trying to find reasons to oppose Romantic Warrior in the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237007/james-mcdonald-not-one-iota-doubt-about-outstanding-racehorse-romantic-warrior?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3237007/james-mcdonald-not-one-iota-doubt-about-outstanding-racehorse-romantic-warrior?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Oct 2023 04:17:43 +0000 One of Australia’s top domestic and international racing form analysts says Romantic Warrior’s Cox Plate rivals “will be in deep trouble” later this month if the Hong Kong horse wins the Group One Turnbull Stakes (2,000m) at Flemington on Saturday. Simon Dinopoulos, a senior handicapper at Canberra-based Racing and Sports, believes Romantic Warrior does not represent a value betting proposition in his initial race on Australian soil this weekend but that Australasia’s weight-for-age championship... https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3236930/analyst-predicts-deep-trouble-romantic-warriors-cox-plate-rivals-if-he-wins-first?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/3236930/analyst-predicts-deep-trouble-romantic-warriors-cox-plate-rivals-if-he-wins-first?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Oct 2023 09:46:04 +0000