NO AUSTRALIAN RUNNERS IN THIS YEAR'S HKIR

By Darren Winningham | Saturday, December 2, 2023

The LONGINES Hong Kong International Racing set down for Sunday December 10 is the culmination of some premier racing by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 2023.

All things being equal, why wouldn’t you bring your horse, if it was a top line performer, to Hong Kong to race in the LONGINES HKIR when there is such amazing prize money on offer – a total of HK$110 million in 2023 – an increase of HK$8 million from 2022.

For those visitors who have primed their horses to peak for this day the feature race options are tantalising - The LONGINES Hong Kong Vase – race 4 of the program (HK$24 million prize money); The LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint – race 5 (HK$26 million prize money); The LONGINES Hong Kong Mile – race 7 (HK$32 million prize money) and The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup – race 8 (HK$36 million prize money)

All four races are at Group 1 level. With so much glory and prize money on offer, you can be assured there will be some competitive racing with the international contingent representing countries from all over the world – USA, Great Britain, France, Ireland, Singapore and of course the most successful raiders in recent years Japan.

Did you spot a notable country missing from that list?

This year Australia does not have any runners competing on this premier racing stage.

While some good reasons can be found for that ... the bottom line is that their absence remains somewhat disappointing.