MARQUAND BACK TO DEFEND HIS IJC TITLE

By Darren Winningham | Tuesday, December 5, 2023

The LONGINES International Jockeys Championship (IJC) will be held at Happy Valley on Wednesday night and Tom Marquand has returned to Hing Kong to defend his 2022 IJC title.

Marquand will represent Great Britain. However, in Australia he is known as ‘Aussie Tom’ – I think I will claim him as well as Rachel King as our representatives this year.

I managed to catch up with Tom at the IJC press conference where he was humble as usual.

In reflecting on his rides on Wednesday night he was very confident saying, "It looks like I’ve got a good enough book of rides that if things fall right, it could all happen again, but it’s a tough evening of racing and it’s highly competitive."

“I have three decent rides, although there is not a standout horse, when I looked at them, I thought it could be a good evening if things fall right. It is a track that you do need a little luck”.

I discussed a couple of his rides with him.

Starting with his first leg of the IJC with Galvanis trained by Casper Fownes, who has a fabulous strike rate at the Happy Valley circuit. This runner drew wide and was forced to race wide in his last run at the track. He has drawn barrier 3 with Marquand aboard.

“When I saw the draw I felt happy days. He was unlucky last start and before that he has been running well at Happy Valley. He could be my best ride of the night," said Marquand.

In the second leg of the IJC he rides another runner for Casper Fownes – Killer Instinct.

Ironically, this is what Marquand will need to succeed again in 2023. The field of jockeys he faces are all out to win a share of the HK$1 million prize money – and no one wants to share or be declared a joint winner – or do they?
When discussing the chances of Killer Instinct Marquand said, “he has drawn wide and his last run at Happy Valley was a good second, whilst it is another decent ride it is a tough draw”.

In the same race his wife Hollie Doyle will ride Club Soda for John Size. “Hollie has got some good rides, I don’t want to let her finish in front of me, but this runner has drawn well on the rails, she will be hard to beat”.

We then spoke about the competitive nature between them both on the track. Tom conceded that he would like to win the IJC night by himself and not share the prize as he did in 2022 with Silevestre De Sousa.

However, on reflection he said, “I would not mind sharing the IJC win with Hollie.”

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