• 4 •

The team driving Hong Kong racing forwardpictured together in the Sha Tin Parade Ring.

(from left) Head of Veterinary Clinical ServicesChristopher Riggs, Head of Veterinary Regulation & International Liaison Keith Watkins, RacingSecretary Marco Cheng, Head of Racing Operations& Equestrian John Ridley, Head of Racing LaboratoryTerence Wan, Chief Stipendiary Steward Jamie Stier,Executive Director of Racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and Head of Handicapping, Race Planning &International Racing Ciaran Kennelly.

• 5 •

How Hong Kong racing rose to current heights

Going from strength to strength

• 6 •

Back in 1996 Hong Kong racing wassynonymous only with the scale ofbetting it generated. At a time whenhorses were considered as little morethan vehicles for gambling, there waslittle direct focus on the quality of thesport and even less emphasis on theneed to be recognised internationally.Just four races were open to overseasrunners and none of those were rankedhigher than International Group Twostandard. Worse still, Hong Konghorses were rarely able to figure in thequinella in any of these four races adecade ago.

hat’s not to say that we didn’thave good horses in the 1990sbecause we did – River Verdon,Mr Vitality, Makarpura Starand Motivation deserve specialmention – but there were fewertop class horses, chasing much

less prize money. In short, the sport wasless attractive and it was not the worldclass offering that we have come to appreciate in recent years.

“We decided we needed to position racing in a morecustomer-friendly way, to make it more competitive on theleisure side of things. Having a steady flow of champion horses is a very important part of racing, but Hong Kong was fallingshort in that respect and we felt we had to find a way to attractbetter horses,” says Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, ExecutiveDirector of Racing.

Around that time, Club Stewards and principally the lateformer Chairman, Mr Alan Li, recognised the importance of theHong Kong International Races and advocated steering the eventaway from being a lucrative novelty to one of the most importantfixtures on the international racing calendar.

With Li at the helm, prize money for the HKIR shot fromHK$20 million for a trio of International Group Two races in 1998 to HK$56m for four International Group One events in 2002.

This, of course, was a double-edged sword. Not long ago, thebest horses from around the world arrived at Sha Tin in theirdroves seeking a share of some of the richest purses in world

racing. But that was the price to be paid for boosting quality. Thenew significant hike in prize money was intended to be morethan a giveaway to foreign owners. Because given the lack of a breeding industry, the only way to increase standards was toinspire owners to recruit better horses from overseas. Li alsoreasoned this would be a challenge Hong Kong Owners would bewilling to accept and was vindicated when local horses won threeof the four HKIR events in 2002 – a long, long way from thedays when Group One winners from overseas were not permittedto race in Hong Kong for fear they would dominate!

Throwing money at the sport was only part of the solution,policy changes were also effected by the Club’s racingadministrators. Improving and refining the criteria by whichoverseas horses could be imported to Hong Kong formed animportant part in boosting the standard of the thoroughbredpopulation. Replacement permits were introduced so Ownerscould retire horses no longer capable of performing to therequired standard owing to injury, a loss of form or advancingyears and replace them with proven international performers.This move resulted in the introduction of this year’s Derby hero Viva Pataca and a previous Classic king and subsequent

world champion, VengeanceOf Rain.

Senior HandicapperCiaran Kennelly alsopoints out, for example,how Owner Kam Shing-kan replaced modest28-rated performer

Pearl And Gold with the New Zealand Group

One winner Russian Pearl, subsequent Group One Stewards’ Cup victor and placegetter in the Mercedes-Benz Hong KongDerby and Audemars Piguet QE II Cup. That’s an upgrade. Theimport criteria were recently fine-tuned to broaden Owners’scope when selecting quality horses to race in Hong Kong.

The Club’s pivotal role in raising standards throughout theAsian Racing Federation cannot go unmentioned either: over thepast year the Asian Mile Challenge has benefited from the Club’szeal for a leading role in the internationalisation of top-classhorse racing. With races in Australia and Dubai this year joiningco-founders Hong Kong and Japan, a US$12.6m mile series, therichest of its kind, is in place. In 2006, Hong Kong is also a partyto the second Global Sprint Challenge, adding further emphasisto our ambition to become world leaders on the turf.

It is essential that champion horses continue to emerge inHong Kong. They provide the inspiration for Owners to seek outthe stars of tomorrow and for fans to come to the track and cheerthem home when that day dawns. Great strides have been madein the past decade. We trust that further progress is just aroundthe corner.

t“We decided we needed to position racing

in a more customer-friendly way, to make it

more competitive on the leisure side of things.

Having a steady flow of champion horses is

a very important part of racing, but Hong Kong

was falling short in that respect and we felt we

had to find a way to attract better horses.”

• 7 •

Oriental Express (Ivan Allan)

wins the QE II Cup and runs

second in the Yasuda Kinen.

Indigenous (Ivan Allan) is an

excellent runner-up in the Japan

Cup. At the time it was the finest

performance by a Hong Kong

horse internationally.

Fairy King Prawn (Ricky Yiu and

Ivan Allan) speeds home in the

inaugural Hong Kong Sprint and

becomes the first Hong Kong

winner of a Group One race

overseas with a comfortable

success in the

Yasuda Kinen.

Industrialist (Brian Kan) edges

a gripping three-way photo

finish to the Audemars Piguet

QE II Cup.

All Thrills Too (David Hayes)

leads a home-based quinella in

the Hong Kong Sprint.

The horses and trainers who madeit happen in the past ten years

99

Olympic Express (Ivan Allan)

snatches the Hong Kong Mile from

local favourite Electronic Unicorn.

Precision (David Oughton) springs

an upset win in the Hong Kong Cup.

Silent Witness (Tony Cruz) arrives

on the international scene with

his Hong Kong Sprint triumph. He

was later named the world’s

leading older turf sprinter in that

year’s International Classifications.

Lucky Owners (Tony Cruz)

spearheads a local one-two in

the Hong Kong Mile.

River Dancer (John Size) is a

shock winner of the Audemars

Piguet QE II Cup from local

favourite Elegant Fashion.

Silent Witness (Tony Cruz) is a

resounding Cathay Pacific Hong

Kong Sprint victor en route to

setting a modern-day record of

17 straight wins.

03

04

05

06

Silent Witness (Tony Cruz)

registers an emphatic success in

the Sprinters Stakes in Japan

before being declared the world’s

top-ranked sprinter, according to

the World Thoroughbred

Racehorse Rankings.

Vengeance Of Rain (David

Ferraris) captures the World

Racing Championships after first

and last leg victories in the

Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup.

02

02

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Cape Of Good Hope (David

Oughton) is the inaugural winner

of the Global Sprint Challenge

thanks to the remarkable

achievement of International

Group One sprint wins in Australia

and Great Britain.

Natural Blitz (Derek Cruz) keeps

the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong

Sprint at home for the fourth

straight year.

Bullish Luck (Tony Cruz) picks up

a US$1 million Asian Mile Challenge

bonus by winning the Champions

Mile and the Yasuda Kinen.

left: Executive Director ofSecurity and CorporateLegal Services StephenChandler is leadingcommunity briefings.

• 8 •

Olympic equestrianpreparations in full swingPreparations are now well in hand on all fronts

for Hong Kong’s staging of the equestrian

events of the 2008 Beijing Olympics and

Paralympics, which provide a once-in-a-lifetime

chance for the city to showcase its facilities to

a global audience and for the community to

become involved in the world’s most

prestigious sporting event.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club will play a

leading role as it has committed to be venue

provider for the three equestrian events,

investing some HK$700-800 million in new or

upgraded facilities that will later provide a

permanent sporting and recreational legacy for

the local community. Here are some of the

developments now under way:

The Olympic Equestrian Committee (Hong Kong)

has been set up to organise the Olympic and

Paralympic competitions on behalf of the

Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of

the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG). Club Chairman

Ronald Arculli is one of four Vice-Presidents.

The Club has also set up its own project team

for the venue preparations, under the direction

of Head of Racing Operations & Equestrian,

John Ridley.

Construction work has already begun, following a

groundbreaking ceremony in April 2006 at the

Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), adjacent to Sha

Tin Racecourse. The Club is working alongside two

of the world’s best-known experts in equestrian

course design: Timothy Court as venue designer

and lead architect, and Mike Etherington-Smith

as cross-country course designer.

For the dressage and showjumping competitions,

the Club is building a main competition arena

seating 19,000 spectators at the HKSI and more

than ten training and warm-up areas, as well as

air-conditioned stabling for some 300 horses,

accommodation for their grooms, and facilities

for officials, sponsors and VIPs.

For the cross-country section of the three-day

event, a 5.7 km long, 10 metre wide track is

being created at the Hong Kong Golf Club in

Fanling and the HKJC’s adjacent Beas River

Country Club, making full use of the site’s

natural scenery.

The Club will also make available its Equine

Hospital and Racing Laboratory at Sha Tin for the

duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Events.

A programme of regular progress briefings to

Government departments, District Councils,

residents’ groups and other interested parties

is under way, under the direction of Executive

Director of Security and Corporate Legal

Services Stephen Chandler.

The Club has played host to several high-profile

delegations of visitors to the venue sites, including

Vice-President of the People’s Republic of China

Zeng Qinghong; the two astronauts aboard

Shenzhou-6, China’s second manned space flight,

Fei Junlong and Nie

Haisheng; Coordination

Commission Chairman

of the International

Olympic Committee,

Hein Verbruggen, and

representatives from the

International Equestrian

Federation (FEI) and BOCOG.

Timothy CourtMike

Etherington-Smith

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Setting up wind testing equipment at the venue sites.

• 9 •

2005 Cape Of Good Hope

Becomes the inaugural winner of the Global

Sprint Challenge thanks to the achievement of

International Group One sprint wins in Australia

and Great Britain.

2005 Vengeance Of Rain

Captures the World Racing Championships

after first and last leg victories in the

Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and the

Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup.

2004 Silent Witness

The world’s joint top-ranked

sprinter in the World

Thoroughbred Racehorse

Rankings.

2005 Silent Witness

The world’s top-ranked sprinter according

to the World Thoroughbred Racehorse

Rankings.

2003 Silent Witness

Listed as the world’s joint

leading older turf sprinter

in the International

Classifications.

Our world champions

Mercedes-Benz

• 10 •

Dr Lawrence T Wong PhD

Chief Executive

Vice Chairman of the International Federation of

Horseracing Authorities (IFHA)

Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF)

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges Executive Director, Racing

Co-Chairman of the International Grading and

Race Planning Advisory Committee of IFHA

Chairman of the ARF Grading and Race

Planning Committee

Ciaran Kennelly Head of Handicapping, Race Planning &International Racing

Co-Chairman of IFHA World Rankings

Supervisory Committee

Co-Chairman of World Thoroughbred Racehorse

Rankings Conference

Dr Keith L Watkins BVSc MRCVS

Head of Veterinary Regulation & International Liaison

Chairman, International Movement of Horses

Committee (IMHC)

Chairman, International Group of Specialist

Racing Veterinarians (IGSRV)

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International affiliations of HKJC management

Contact & Event Veterinarian Hong Kong,

International Equestrian Federation (FEI)

Dr Christopher M Riggs BVSc, PhD, DEO, DipECVS, MRCVS Head of Veterinary Clinical Services

Treasurer of the European Society of

Veterinary Orthopaedics and Traumatology

Diplomat of the European College of

Veterinary Surgeons

Specialist in equine orthopaedics,

Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

Special Professor at the University of

Nottingham, England

Dr Terence Wan BSc, PhD, EurChem, CSci, CChem, FRSC, FAORC, FFSSocHead of Racing Laboratory

Convenor of the Working Group on Racehorse

Testing of the International Laboratory

Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

Member of the Accreditation Committee of ILAC

Member of the Advisory Council on Prohibited

Substances, IFHA

Member of the Medication Advisory Group, FEI

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Bullish Luck is anunbelievably easy winnerof the Yasuda Kinen, themost important mileevent in Japan roared on(above) by Hong Kong’scheering team.

Russian Pearl

• 11 •

Raising the barHow a raft of fresh racing initiatives got us where we are today

Making the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong

International Races a unique occasion with top-

class participants from throughout the world

chasing four International Group One races and

some of the highest prize money in the world.

Offering a bonus system for locally-trained

stakes earners in Hong Kong’s six international

races as well for the Triple Crown and

Champion Sprint Series.

Significantly boosting prize money for our

international and top domestic races to reward

Owners for purchasing better quality

thoroughbreds to race in Hong Kong.

Attracting more world-class jockeys to Hong Kong.

Encouraging Owners to race their horses

overseas.

Import criteria changes with the aim of

improving the quality of our horses.

Positioning the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong

Derby as the ultimate domestic prize by

boosting both its value and associated prestige.

Mercedes-Benz

Attracting world-class horse trainers to apply

their craft at Sha Tin, sometimes with almost

Special

Replacement

Permit Policy

introduced in 2001/02

season. Group One

winners Bullish

Luck, River

Dancer, Super Kid, Vengeance

Of Rain, Russian Pearl, Viva Pataca, Natural Blitz

and Sunny Sing have all switched to Hong Kong

under this successful initiative.

Recently promoted local trainers have achieved

new heights – the likes of Danny Shum, Casper

Fownes, Dennis Yip, Manfred Man et al look set

for very successful careers.

Introduction of performance criteria for

trainers setting a minimum wins requirement

per season.

Viva Pataca

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immediate results – John Size instantly raised

the standard by winning the championship in

his first three seasons; Tony Millard won the

Hong Kong Derby in his first year; David Ferraris

won the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby,

Audemars Piguet QE II Cup and Cathay Pacific

Hong Kong Cup in his second and third terms.

Mercedes-Benz

Hong Kong 108,443

UAE 78,206

Ireland 28,333

South Korea 28,617

France 22,216

Average Prize Money per Race in 2004 (US$)

New Zealand 7,296

South Africa 7,953

Australia 8,647

UK 20,022

USA 10,265

Howard Cheng

Bullish Luck

Nurturing homegrown riding talent. Howard

Cheng and Eddy Lai consistently perform well in

the face of fierce weighing room competition,

while leading apprentice Alex Lai continues to

offer great value for his 7lbs claim.

John Size

Japan 39,039

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