Vincent Ho

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges has been at the helm of the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) since 2007, presiding over a significant expansion of the Asian racing scene. Emmanuel Roussel received an update from the CEO during last weekend's Hong Kong International meeting, with topics including the development of racing at Conghua on the Chinese mainland, and the potential for the HKJC to establish breeding bases in Europe and Australia to boost its supply of Thoroughbreds. Emmanuel Roussel: The international week is always a great event, so close to the festive season....

Officials at the Hong Kong Jockey Club could offer their devoted fans only limited access to the Longines Hong Kong International Races meeting from 2020 to 2022, a necessity attributable to the Coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, and while the attendance restrictions were gradually eased over the next few years, there were certain parameters and restrictions in place to ensure the show would go on. With things more or less back to normal in the SAR, the patrons--a reported 65,252 of them--poured through the Sha Tin turnstiles Sunday afternoon to...

Jockey Vincent Ho made history Wednesday night at iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island, becoming the first 'homegrown' rider to take out the prestigious Longines International Jockeys' Championship. With a narrow victory over Zac Purton in the fourth and final leg of the series, Ho amassed a total of 20 points to Purton's 18, with Australia's Rachel King and the locally based South African Lyle Hewitson on 16 points. King was declared outright third, with her victory in the first leg of the competition and an additional third-place...

During a season that saw him become the richest-ever horse and most prolific winner of Group 1 races in Hong Kong history, Stanley Chan Ka Leung's Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) was named Horse of the Year in the jurisdiction for an unprecedented third straight season during a black-tie affair held Friday evening at the Grand Ballroom of the Rosewood Hotel. The son of Gaudeamus (Distorted Humor) won four of his five trips to the post during a well-managed 7-year-old campaign, his only loss coming at the hooves of the...

Coming into Sunday's FWD Champions Day meeting--the spring Hong Kong International Races, if you will--two-time Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro), reigning champion middle-distance horse Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) and emerging sprinter Lucky Sweynesse (NZ) (Sweynesse {Aus}) had absorbed a gut punch or two over the course of the season. But each put pay to any lingering disappointment from those efforts with eye-catching, skinny-odds victories at before a crowd of nearly 50,000 at Sha Tin Racecourse. If you had a punt, one of two things happened--you...

For the third time in four starts this season, this time in Sunday's G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) jumped at a quote of even-money or better, not insignificant given that his highest starting price in his 14 appearances prior to that was $1.80 (4-5). That he offered his backers $2.30 was only logical, as he was facing off with Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), perfect in four starts over the course and 2000-metre distance, which was supposed...

It was billed as a clash of the titans, with Hong Kong's three highest-rated gallopers squaring off for the first time in the G1 Stewards' Cup Sunday at Sha Tin. It certainly did not disappoint. Those who may have thought Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro)'s defeat at the hooves of California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in last month's G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile signaled the beginning of the end or a changing of the guard were reminded in no uncertain terms that the 7-year-old retains all of his zest for...

Revenge is squarely on the mind of reigning Hong Kong Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) as he faces one of his stiffest tests to date in Sunday's G1 Stewards' Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse. Having suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the re-opposing Waikuku (Ire) (Harbour Watch {Ire}) when in search of a record-equalling 17th consecutive victory in last year's Stewards' Cup, the 7-year-old enters this race with another chip on his shoulder, having failed to reel in loose-on-the-lead California Spangle (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus})...

His 22 career victories is an all-time record in Hong Kong racing history. His HK$116 million (£12.2 million/US$14.7 million) in career earnings makes him not only the richest racehorse to look through a bridle in the Special Administrative Region, but also one of the richest Thoroughbreds, ever. Stanley Chan's Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) can make even more history this Sunday when he starts a long odds-on proposition in the G1 Longines Hong Kong Mile, a victory in which will tie Good Ba Ba (Lear Fan) with three straight wins...

Coronavirus dictated that it wasn't exactly business at usual at Happy Valley Racecourse for the staging of Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship. But there was a return to at least some semblance of normalcy, as a crowd of about 11,000 fans filed into the stands and into the beer garden to watch Silvestre de Sousa finish level with Tom Marquand to cause a dead heat for just the third time in the history of the event. The duo shared HK$700,000 (£73,544) in prize money. COVID-19 had already resulted original IJC...

Owner Edmond Yue Kwok-yin splashed out HK$7 million on the advice of trainer Danny Shum Chap-shing for a 3-year-old son of Starspangledbanner (Aus) at the Hong Kong International Sale, and the gelding made a small, but not insignificant first return on that investment with a handy career debut Wednesday evening at Happy Valley Racecourse. Nordic Dragon (Ire) had made a favourable impression in a pair of barrier trials, winning one such event going 1200-metres around the city circuit Oct. 14 (video) and another when switched to the dirt track at...

Further easing in the local COVID restrictions meant that the biggest crowd since January--better than 13,000 racegoers--took in Sunday's BOCHK Jockey Club meeting at Sha Tin in person and were they ever rewarded. Making their seasonal debuts and having a single prep towards next month's Longines Hong Kong International Races, both two-time defending Horse of the Year Golden Sixty (Aus) (Medaglia d'Oro) and last year's champion 4-year-old Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}) were outstanding in taking out the G2 Jockey Club Mile and G2 Jockey Club Cup, respectively, while Lucky...