I am very excited to hear that Hong Kong accepts the entry of international media members in December and I cannot wait to travel back to Hong Kong for the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, which I missed attending the last two years.  

I share this feeling with racehorse owners and trainers in Japan, who are preparing to send the delegation formed by more than ten runners with high profiles for all four Group 1 races at Sha Tin on 11 December.

It is expected the field for the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) will include at least four Japanese representatives and the flag bearer in the feature race of the day, which carries total purse of HK$34 million, is Panthalassa, owned by Hiroo Racehorse racing partnership based at Tokyo.  

The G1 Tenno Sho Autumn (2000m) at Tokyo on 30 October was one of the most spectacular races I have seen in Japan for many years and I believe horse racing fans in Hong Kong also enjoyed to watch it.

A five-year-old horse by Lord Kanaloa, winner of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) in 2012 and 2013, Panthalassa led the 15-runner field in the G1 Tenno Sho Autumn (2000m), clocking 57.4 seconds at 1000m mark, which is furiously fast as the race was run over 2000m at Tokyo, and was 15 lengths clear away from rest of field when he turned into homestretch. While he was finally caught by Equinox, the race favourite in the final strides, Panthalassa ran bravely to the bitter end and finished second, holding off the late challenge by superlative middle-distance performers, such as Danon Beluga, Shahryar and Geoglyph. It was, no doubt, a fantastic performance.

Panthalassa is an experienced traveller, as he was shipped to Dubai earlier this year and dead-heated in the G1 Dubai Turf (1800m) at Meydan on 26 March with Great Britain’s Lord North, and he is trained by world-famous Yoshito Yahagi, who won the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup by Loves Only You in 2021 and will try to achieve back-to-back wins in the Cup. I estimate Panthalassa could be thrown into the limelight as the brightest star horse on the day of the 2022 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.

Panthalassa will be joined in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup by Jack d’Or, who won the G2 Sapporo Kinen over 2000m at Sapporo on 21 August, defeating Panthalassa, and finished fourth in the G1 Tenno Sho Autumn, Lei Papale, winner of the G1 Osaka Hai over 2000m in 2021, who finished fourth in the G2 Mainichi Okan (1800m) at Tokyo on 9 October and Danon The Kid, winner of G1 Hopeful Stakes over 2000m in 2020 who finished third in the Mainichi Okan.

I understand there is common recognition by trainers in the world that local runners in G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) are very strong, as it includes Golden Sixty, who will try to win the HK$30 million event for the third consecutive time, and California Spangle, emerging new power in Hong Kong. Hence, Danon Scorpion, who won the G1 NHK Mile Cup (1600m) at Tokyo on 8 May, is the only Japanese who is confirmed as an intended runner in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile, while connections of Salios and Schnell Meister are still considering whether to accept their invitations.

Gendarme, Naran Huleg and Resistencia, all of whom are G1 winners, in addition to Meikei Yell, winner of six Stakes races, represent Japan in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint.

Glory Vase makes his fourth trip to Hong Kong, aiming for unprecedented third win in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m), and Stunning Rose, winner of G1 Shuka Sho (2000m) at Hanshin on 16 October who runs in G1 Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ Cup (2200m) at Hanshin on 13 November, is also ready to compete in the HK$22 million race.

Green Channel at Tokyo plans to show coverage of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races from Sha Tin and millions of horse racing fanatics in Japan look forward to watching all four G1 races live.