A total of 69,916 racegoers flocked to Sha Tin, with Joyful Valley attracting a further 10,775, bringing the total number of participants for the Longines Hong Kong International Races to 80,691. It is the highest number of visitors since 2018.
“I personally think it was one of the best, if not the best, Longines Hong Kong International Races and an incredible week,” said Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chairman of the HKJC. “Starting with the Longines International Jockeys' Championship, it has been an incredible success. Today we wanted to create a highlight and I personally think that everything went perfectly.
“If you just look at the results, it was a huge success for the Hong Kong horses, but our overseas horses also ran really well. When you talk to the foreign owners, they say that it was a wonderful experience to come to Hong Kong and support the meeting, even if their horses came second or third.
“This meeting was broadcast live to 29 countries and in Hong Kong we had a huge turnout with a total attendance of 80,000. We also had 6,511 visitors from the mainland, which is a record – 40% more than last year.”
Locally trained horses swept three of the four HKIR–Romantic Warrior (Irish) (Acclamation {GB}), G1 Longines Hong Kong Cup, Ka Ying Rising (Novel Zealand) (Shamexpress {NZ}), G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint and Travel Bubble (Off) (Deep Field {Aus}), G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile. British robber Spear (Irish) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) took the G1 Longines Hong Kong Vase, the first Turf World Championships win for Great Britain since 2012.
Engelbrecht-Bresges added: “If you look at the sporting achievements, Romantic Warrior is the best 2000m horse in the world.” It was an absolutely dominant performance, he showed that he is absolutely world class and this race (Longines Winning the Hong Kong Cup for the third time is an incredible achievement. With total prize money of HK$177 million (£17,849,886/€21,528,584/$22,753,164/A$35,611,075), he has now broken the Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) world prize money record, which is an amazing achievement.
“It was a very good win for Giavellotto. It was the first time for a British horse since 2012 and he had huge competition from another Hong Kong horse, Ka Ying Rising [Victor The Winner (Aus) (Toronado {Ire})]which disrupted his rhythm, but he's a great sprinter. Voyage Bubble showed how good he is and I think it was a great performance from the runner-up [Soul Rush (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn})].”
Sales reached HK$1,716.3 million (£173,090,614/€208,754,294/$220,628,571/A$345,305,094), including a record HK$473.8 million (£47,783,215/57,628. 494 €/$60,906,494/A$95,324,566) – a 10% raise over last year’s Longines HKIR.
“Our strategy to bring the best racing from Hong Kong and show them overseas is proving to be a great success, with our racing taking place today for the first time under the World Pool banner, showing that our racing product is extremely well received.” he said.
“Today it’s not about sales. Today is about sport – it was a fantastic spectacle. The crescendo was the fireworks at the end of this wonderful meeting. With Sir Alex we have a up-to-date racing fan [Ferguson]. He absolutely loved Hong Kong and what he saw and promised me he would come back.
“This meeting attracts a global audience and global recognition and that reflects positively on Hong Kong.
“We would like to thank all the owners, trainers and jockeys who brought their horses here because we can only make this a global event if we have the support of the owners, trainers and jockeys from overseas.
“I would like to thank our amazing teams for the work they do behind the scenes to make Hong Kong a wonderful destination and connect with the world as a vivid, world-class city.”
