Superstars Joao Moreira and Christophe Lemaire will compete in December’s Longines International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) for the first time in years, while the injured Ryan Moore remains a chance to feature for the 17th straight season as he recovers from a leg injury.
Reigning IJC champion Mickael Barzalona, Kiwi gun James McDonald, William Buick, Hollie Doyle, Rachel King and Hong Kong fan favourite Umberto Rispoli were also among the newly configured line-up confirmed by the Jockey Club on Wednesday.
While in the past – Covid aside – the IJC has traditionally featured eight international jockeys and four based in Hong Kong, this year’s competition on December 10 will feature nine overseas riders.
Even if Moore doesn’t prove his fitness in time, he will be replaced by an international rather than a local jockey.
Runaway Hong Kong premiership leader Zac Purton was also confirmed on Wednesday, earning his spot as the city’s reigning champion jockey, while the final two spots will be filled by whoever sits second behind Purton in the title race and the highest-ranked local rider.
As it stands that is Luke Ferraris and Vincent Ho Chak-yiu - Ellis Wong Chi-wang sits above Ho but is not eligible as an apprentice - with the final two spots to be locked in after the Happy Valley meeting on November 26.
“The Longines International Jockeys’ Championship is the world’s most coveted such competition and this year we have one of the strongest jockey line-ups in recent years,” said Jockey Club executive director of racing Andrew Harding.
“James McDonald, Mickael Barzalona, Ryan Moore and William Buick currently fill the top four in the Longines World’s Best Jockey standings and between them this year they have won a string of the world’s leading Group One contests.
“The line-up will be boosted, of course, by the inclusion of two-time Longines IJC champion Ryan Moore, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that he recovers sufficiently to be able to participate.”
The IJC is the world’s most lucrative jockey challenge for the winning rider, with the competition’s four races worth a combined HK$7.5 million in prize money to go with a total prize fund of HK$1 million in bonus money for the most successful riders, which sees the winner receive HK$600,000, second pocket HK$250,000 and third grab HK$150,000.
Moreira will make his 10th appearance in the IJC but first since 2021 after handing in his Hong Kong licence in 2022, while Japan-based Lemaire is back for the first time since 2018.
Rispoli, who departed Hong Kong in 2019 after 122 winners in the city, has been plying his trade with success in the United States.
Trainers will again have an added incentive to aim their horses at the IJC races, with the winning trainer receiving HK$300,000, while second and third will snap up HK$125,000 and HK$75,000, respectively.
The four-race competition works on a points-based system, with 12 points for a win, six points for second place and four points for third.
