LONGINES Hong Kong International Races draws global turf stars

An international A-list has entered the HK$110 million LONGINES Hong Kong International Races in 2022. Among the 127 elite horses entered are 43 individual Gr.1 winners, making for a remarkable collection of potential winners at Hong Kong's premier meeting at Sha Tin on 11 December. Japan has the most entries with 63, including the two-time defending champion of the Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, Glory Vase, as well as other top-liners Salios, Songline, and Panthalassa. Australia is represented by 15 horses, including Nature Strip, the top-ranked sprinter in the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings, as well as The Everest winner Giga Kick and Eduardo. There is a glittering combined entry from eight different regions, including Japan, Ireland, Australia, Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States, and Singapore. Aidan O'Brien has eight entries, including Tuesday, Order Of Australia, and Broome, who won the Gr.1 Epsom Oaks, while Jessica Harrington has nominated Magical Lagoon, who won the Gr.1 Irish Oaks. The four Group 1 features this year offer record prize money, and entries will be bolstered next Monday (24 October) when nominations for Hong Kong-trained contenders close. The four Gr.1 features are the HK$34 million Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup, HK$30 million Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), HK$24 million Gr.1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, and HK$22 million Gr.1 LONGINES Hong.

The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years, but have continued under a closed-loop system that has allowed horses trained in other countries to compete successfully. This has included the likes of Japanese superstars Loves Only You, Glory Vase, and Danon Smash, as well as Ireland's Mogul. The phenomenal Japanese entry has increased from 40 in 2021 to 63 this year, and it boasts 17 individual Gr.1 winners, such as the contenders for the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint Gendarme and Naran Huleg, the top milers Salios, Songline, and Schnell Meister, Geoglyph, and the outstanding stayers Glory Vase (the 2019 and 2021 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase champion), the Dubai Turf dead-heater Panthalassa, and the 2021 Gr.1 winners Eduardo, Mr. Brightside, and September Run are also representing Australia, as is the recently crowned The Everest hero Giga Kick, who defeated Royal Ascot Gr.1 King's Stand Stakes (1006m) victor Nature Strip at Randwick last Saturday (15 October). The British contingent is led by Kinross, winner of the Gr1 British Champions Sprint Stakes and raced by Hong Kong owner Marc Chan, while Ralph Beckett's speedy has been entered in both the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint and LONGINES Hong Kong Mile. Deauville Legend, trained by Boniface Ho, is one of several strong British entrants for the Gr.1 Melbourne Cup. Other notable British contenders include Saffron Beach, Emaraaty Ana, and Dreamloper.