KARIS TEETAN TAKES OUT THE LONGINES INTERNATIONAL JOCKEY'S CHAMPIONSHIP

By Darren Winningham | Thursday, December 5, 2019

The Hong Kong Jockey Club created LONGINES International Jockeys Championship is all over for 2019 with a comprehensive win to Hong Kong for the first time with KARIS TEETAN claiming a close victory.

Karis Teetan, so often living in the shadow of Zac Purton and Joao Moreira scored points in three of the four legs of the LONGINES International Jockeys Championship at Happy Valley last night to run out the convincing and deserved winner.

The result of the 2019 Jockeys Challenger all came down to the outcome of the final race of an electrifying night's racing.

England's Ryan Moore got his night off to a flying start in the first leg winning on the Tony Cruz trained Flying Genius. “He did it nicely. He’s an unexposed horse, he had a nice run around, a good mind and he’s a pleasure to ride,” Moore said.

Meanwhile Teetan claimed some points riding G Unit into third place for John Moore.

Teetan then hit back in the second leg and rode another Tony Cruz trained horse – Dream Warriors to win. He was drawn perfectly in barrier 1 and Teetan rated him well to win in a narrow victory.

After the win Teetan led Moore narrowly in the points tally 16 to 12.

The third leg was won by the David Hall trained Flying Quest ridden by the Irish jockey Colin Keane. Keane continued his good run at the Valley, flying home from last on the turn beating home Magnificent (Moore) and Charizard (Oisin Murphy).

“They went good and hard early doors and he really got into his stride as we turned in and he hit the line very well,” Keane said. “It’s nice to come out here and get a winner on a night like this. I’m delighted.”

In the final event of the IJC leading local jockey Vincent Ho claimed the race for Hong Kong, overcoming a sore foot to prevail on Tony Millard’s Glorious Dragon.

“He performed really well, the pace picked up at the right time and he got a good smooth run. He had a great turn of foot.” He went on to thank the doctors and physiotherapists who had provided him with intensive treatment over the past four days so he could ride in the prestigious event.

Teetan rode the heavily backed runner High Rev for trainer David Hall into third place. When the jockeys were returning to scale after the race, the Mauritian was still unsure if he’d beaten his rivals before unleashing a double-fisted “yeah” when it was confirmed he had.

“It’s a very good feeling, I can’t believe that I won this challenge. I knew I had some decent rides, but still, you need the horses to perform on the night,” Teetan said.

Teetan was quick to remind us all that the Grand Final is on Sunday saying, “It’s something special but it doesn’t stop here. There’s a lot of hard work and Sunday is a big day so it’s not like I’m going to get a big head, it is more important.”

When I asked him about what he planned to do with his HK$500,000 prizemoney he said, “I am getting married next year so I need the money!”

The final points standing after the final event in LONGINES International Jockeys Challenge:

Karis Teetan - 20 points
Ryan Moore – 18 points
Vincent Ho – 12 points
Colin Keane – 12 points
with Japan’s Yuga Kawada, Silvestre de Sousa and Joao Moreira collecting six each.

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