Certain to be crowned the inaugural World's Best Jockey in Hong Kong next month, English rider Ryan Moore will cap a stellar season by headlining next month's Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley.
The December 10 showpiece sees Moore, a winner of the IJC in 2009 and 2010, joined by other past winners, Belgian Christophe Soumillon (dead heat 2004) and Australia's Kerrin McEvoy (2013), with Brazilian maestro Joao Moreira (2012) all but guaranteed a spot.
But for the first time since 1999, three-time winner Douglas Whyte (2002, 2007, 2008) will not be in action, with Zac Purton taking the position afforded to the reigning local champion jockey.
The Longines World's Best Jockey award is an initiative of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and gives points to riders who finish first, second and third in the world's top 100 races between December 1 and November 30, with the winner honoured as part of the festivities during international week.
Moore has an unassailable lead after wins in the Sheema Classic, Prix du Jockey Club, Irish Champion Stakes, Cox Plate and Melbourne Cup and placings in a further seven elite races over the past 12 months.
He will be joined by a trio of elder statesmen - compatriot Richard Hughes, Ireland's Pat Smullen and Japanese star Yuichi Fukunaga, who returns for the first time since a widely criticised ride on Epiphaneia in the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup in April.
At the other end of the spectrum are two 22-year-old young guns, New Zealander James McDonald and Puerto Rican Irad Ortiz Jnr.
McDonald, Sydney's reigning champion jockey, rode in his first IJC when he was just 19 and returns tomorrow to ride Spalato in the Jockey Club Sprint, while Ortiz Jnr, who rides the New York circuit, won his first Breeders' Cup race earlier this month.
The first jockey to represent South Africa in four years will be S'Manga Khumalo, last year's champion jockey and the first black rider to win their most prestigious race, the Durban July.
Purton will be joined by two other locally based riders, to be decided on this season's jockey standings.
Moreira will take one of the positions as the championship leader, as his only rival for the spot - Purton - is already a competitor and he is 14 wins clear of Whyte, Neil Callan and Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.
Ho, however, will be granted the opportunity to take on some of the world's best if he maintains his position as the leading Chinese rider, five wins ahead of Matthew Chadwick, after next Wednesday's meeting.
All 12 jockeys are randomly allocated mounts for the four races, accumulating points depending on their finishing position. The rider with the highest points will receive HK$500,000, the runner-up HK$200,000 and third HK$100,000.
