LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship: Graham Cunningham sets the scene

Bowman aiming to hit the IJC target again as global stars gather in Hong Kong

Take twelve elite global riders, add a festive showdown with HK$1m on the line then mix in an equalising algorithm and a secret sauce venue that tests nerve and skill to the maximum.

The format for the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship has been refined in recent years but there’s a familiar atmosphere in Sha Tin’s Jockey Club Box ahead of the Monday draw and jockey allocation ceremony.

Diligent HKJC staff exchange nervous nods as jet lagged media bods sip coffee and study the final fields for four rich handicaps that make up the world’s most famous jockey challenge.

Owners and trainers exchange banter as they wait to see who they will leg up on Wednesday night and, decked out in branded navy jackets, some of the world’s best riders smile for the cameras as they digest what the ballots have brought them.

Three-time winner Zac Purton has seen it all before and reacts by saying “last year my rides were terrible but I think I can build as we go along this time.”

Proud to have earned a slot after an injury-hit year, Vincent Ho will be aiming to repeat his 2023 IJC success and nominates Fortunate Son in leg two as one of his strongest chances.

And Hugh Bowman, who raised the enormous silver IJC trophy aloft in 2016, seems quietly confident that he will be in the mix in a line-up boasting a combined total of 71 global wins in 2025.

“I’ve only suppled one of those (Red Lion’s shock FWD Champions Mile success in April) and this is a world-class field,” says the man who partnered the mighty Winx to a world record 25 elite level victories.

“But my first reaction is that all the ones I’ve drawn on Wednesday are well worth riding.

“Silvery Breeze looks a fair chance for David Eustace in the third leg and Power Koepp is around his right mark for the fourth, but I went close on him at the Valley last time and it looks like he’s found his form again.”

This is the 'rithim of the night

The HKJC introduced an algorithm designed to give all IJC riders a fair spread of chances in 2020, but the unique venue that hosts the competition remains the ingredient that makes this four-course menu so spicy.

If you’ve been there on a steamy night surrounded by thousands of tourists, taxi drivers and TikTokkers then you will already know that no sporting arena on the planet embodies the soul of its city more perfectly than Happy Valley.

If you’ve watched from afar as the action takes place among sentinel skyscrapers you will sense a place that blends business with bling and risk with reward like no other.

And if you are part of the devoted global punting audience who bet around HK$1.3b on an average nine-race card, then the Valley can be a field of dreams or the stuff of nightmares.

Favourite backers have been doing it tough under the lights of late and a measure of the wafer-thin margins at play can be gleaned from the fact that nine handicaps at the final November meeting produced a combined winning distance of a length and a half with four won by a neck, one by a short head and three by a nose.

We could be in for something similar on Wednesday and, with early signs suggesting this year’s IJC could be the most open on record, it’s well worth recalling what happened twelve months ago.

Mickael Barzalona was ignored in the market that night, drifting from 19-1 to 24-1 with precious few takers, but the French ace landed the first leg on 37-1 shot Sergeant Pepper and the last from way out west in gate 12 on Aurora Lady to capture the trophy and the HK$600,000 prize for the winning rider.

So, all the very best if you are aiming to get HKIR week off to a flyer at the Valley.

The flagship week in the Hong Kong racing calendar will conclude with two genuine global superstars topping the bill on Sunday.

David Hayes and Danny Shum will put the final polish on Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior this week and, as we approach the end of a momentous year for international racing, most people see defeat for that pair as nigh-on unthinkable.

But first we have a dynamic dozen – also including Moreira, Lemaire, Moore, Buick, McDonald and Hollie Doyle - bidding to shine in one of the strongest IJC fields ever assembled.

Fresh from a Sunday double, Hughie has drawn a decent hand as he bids to follow up this summer’s Silver Saddle success at Ascot’s Shergar Cup with a second win in the daddy of all jockey challenges.

But Barza’s 2024 brilliance confirmed that anything is possible on IJC night – and you never know what might happen once that Valley secret sauce is added to the mix.

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