Longines International Jockeys' Championship

On the back of a victory aboard Pour Moi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) for Coolmore and trainer Andre Fabre in the G1 Investec Epsom Derby in 2011, a then 20-year-old Mickael Barzalona took up a short-term contract to ride in Hong Kong, bringing up a single winner from 42 rides. Now all of 33 years of age, the Frenchman experienced the other end of the spectrum to take out the valuable Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) before a packed house at Happy Valley Racecourse, book-ending the four-race competition with victories en...

A dozen of the best jockeys from all corners of the globe--four based locally and eight from overseas--come together Wednesday evening at Hong Kong's iconic Happy Valley Racecourse for the Longines International Jockeys' Championship. Widely recognized as the premier contest of its kind, the IJC carries total prize money of HK$1 million, to be divided up three ways, with the winner taking home a checque for HK$600,000, while the second- and third-place finishers earn HK$250,000 and HK$150,000, respectively. Vincent Ho, best known for his association with the now retired three-time...

A strong line up of jockeys have been announced for the 2024 Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday, Dec. 4. The four races are worth a combined HK$7.5-million (£740,000) in prize-money, and there is a total prize fund of HK$1 million in bonus money for the most successful riders split three ways, with the winner set to receive HK$600,000, with HK$250,000 for second and HK$150,000 for third (£60,000, £25,000, and £15,000, respectively). Vincent Ho, who won this contest in 2023, and seven-time Hong Kong Champion...

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...

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...

Hollie Doyle may be the roughest chance in the field of 12 for Wednesday evening's Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at Hong Kong iconic 'city track' at Happy Valley Racecourse, but she'd be considering herself fortunate to take her chances at all. The 26-year-old, who returned an 'indifferent' COVID test upon her arrival from Japan, was given the green light to compete Tuesday after the chief medical officer for the Hong Kong Jockey Club confirmed that the original result was a 're-positive' case, per a release. "After careful clinical and...

Nine of the finest jockeys representing six of the world's most important racing jurisdictions will take part in the Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) to be held at iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island Wednesday, Dec. 7. Making her third appearance in the IJC, having finished second in last year's event, is England's Hollie Doyle, who set a new record for wins by a female jockey in a British calendar year in last term. The 26-year-old has put together another fine season in 2022 and earned her first...

European-based jockeys managed victories in three of the four races comprising Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island, but consistency was rewarded when Zac Purton--out of luck on the evening--had the last laugh, placing in all four legs to take home the HK$500,000 (£48,558/€56,739) first prize. Currently atop the jockeys' premiership in Hong Kong, Purton was winning the IJC for a third time in five years, having taken it in 2017 and again 12 months ago. He joins Frankie Dettori and Douglas Whyte as...

Eight high-profile overseas jockeys will join four Hong Kong-based riders to compete for the HK$500,000 top prize in the Longines International Jockeys' Championship to be held at the iconic Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island Wednesday, Dec. 8. Ryan Moore is set to jet in to make a 15th appearance at the IJC, having dead-heated for the spoils with John Murtagh and Christophe Lemaire in 2009 before winning the title outright 12 months hence. Moore, who has finished on the podium four times since his most recent victory, currently...

Six European-based jockeys will square off against a half-dozen Hong Kong-based riders in the Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Hong Kong's Happy Valley Racecourse Wednesday, Dec. 9. Carrying prizemoney of HK$800,000 (£77,666/€86,943)--with a first prize of HK$500,000--the IJC is the most lucrative jockey competition in the world. The foreign contingent is led by the duo of Tom Marquand and Hollie Doyle, aged 22 and 24, respectively, and each of whom has celebrated a breakout season in 2020. Among Marquand's successes this season include the G1 QIPCO British Champion S. aboard...