HISTORY
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2022
Romantic victory
LONGINES Hong Kong Cup hero Romantic Warrior brought a maiden Hong Kong International Races success for 62-year-old trainer Danny Shum, who rode 24 winners as a jockey in Hong Kong between 1977 and 1983. He then learned his craft as a trainer with the legendary Ivan Allan before being awarded a licence in his own right for the 2003/04 season.
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2021
Golden record
Golden Sixty stands alone as Hong Kong’s most prolific winner in history after he successfully defended his G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m). Hong Kong’s champion savoured the 19th win of his career to set a new record in town, dating back to when the professional era of Hong Kong racing commenced in 1971.
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2020
Golden Boy
All four HKIR events were successfully held under the pandemic in Hong Kong’s ‘Racing Bubble’ and the star of the show was reigning Champion Four-Year-Old, Golden Sixty, who maintained his ever-growing unbeaten run with a sublime victory in the Hong Kong Mile.
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2019
Japanese delight
Win Bright, Admire Mars and Glory Vase prevailed to win the Cup, Mile and Vase, bringing Japan a second ever HKIR hat-trick, a feat they last achieved in 2001.
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2018
Home glory
Beauty Generation, Mr Stunning, Exultant and Glorious Forever made history as they helped Hong Kong taking all four G1 events at a single HKIR for the first time.
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2017
Purton's sweep
Champion Jockey Zac Purton wins a first Hong Kong Cup aboard Time Warp, completing a clean sweep of all four HKIR events.
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2016
Hori's historic double
Japan's Noriyuki Hori became the first overseas trainer to win two HKIR contests the same year when Satono Crown took the Vase and Maurice won the Cup.
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2015
O'Brien at last
Ireland’s champion trainer Aidan O’Brien scored his first HKIR success at his ninth attempt when Highland Reel cruised home in the 2015 Vase. Highland Reel secured a second Vase win two years later.
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2014
Friend tops all
Able Friend pulled off a sensational 4-1/4 length victory in the 2014 Mile which earned a rating of 127, the highest international rating ever achieved by a Hong Kong-trained racehorse.
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2013
Lord of all
Japanese sprint sensation Lord Kanaloa enjoyed a perfect swansong to his illustrious career when he thrashed his opponents by 5 lengths in the 2013 Sprint.
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2012
California’s Cup
The popular grey California Memory successfully defended his crown in the 2012 Cup and remains the only horse to have won the race twice.
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2011
Melbourne/Hong Kong double
Dunaden saw off Thumbs Up and Red Cadeaux in the 2011 Vase to become the first horse to complete the Melbourne Cup / Hong Kong Vase double.
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2010
Bin Suroor’s Mastery
Trainer Saeed Bin Suroor gained his fourth HKIR success with Mastery in the 2010 Vase and remains the most successful overseas trainer in HKIR history.
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2009
Fillies thrice
Only three 3yo fillies have succeeded at the HKIR and the 2009 Vase winner, France’s Daryakana, is the latest.
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2008
Doctor calls twice
Doctor Dino, his trainer Richard Gibson and jockey Olivier Peslier combined for a second successive Vase triumph in 2008: the horse became the second to land back-to-back wins in the Vase after Luso.
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2007
Good Ba Ba for three
Good Ba Ba won his first Hong Kong Mile in 2007 and made it a hat-trick with wins in the following two years to become the first and only horse to achieve three HKIR wins.
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2006
Pride of France
The Alain de Royer Dupre-trained Pride maintained her position as the leading filly/mare in the world in 2006 when winning the Hong Kong Cup.
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2005
Rain rules the world
Vengeance Of Rain blitzed his rivals to win the 2005 Cup, a victory that ensured he was also crowned that year’s World Racing Championships winner.
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2004
Euro treble
Firebreak, trained by Saeed bin Suroor, wins the Hong Kong Mile, one of three European winners at the meeting in 2004. No horse trained on the continent has won the Mile since.
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2003
First for a legend
Silent Witness earned his first G1 success in the 2003 Sprint. He went on to win eight more top level races in Hong Kong and Japan to cement his status as a local racing legend.
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2002
Sprint makes it four
The four-race HKIR attained a full house of international G1s when the Sprint was promoted to elite status in 2002.
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2001
Japan hat-trick
Team Japan dominated the 2001 HKIR as Agnes Digital, Eishin Preston and Stay Gold prevailed in the Cup, Mile and Vase respectively.
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2000
Fantastic millennium
The Godolphin-owned Fantastic Light notched the second of six G1 successes in his career in the 2000 Hong Kong Cup.
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1999
Group 1 Tonic
The Hong Kong Cup was first staged as an international G1 event in 1999 and it was France’s Jim And Tonic that took the spoils.
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1998
Indigenous hero
The Ivan Allan-trained Indigenous became the first Hong Kong-trained runner to win the Vase.
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1997
Prince has the edge
Arguably the closest finish between the first two in the history of the HKIR came when American runner Val’s Prince narrowly edged out local hero Oriental Express to win the Hong Kong International Cup in 1997.
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1996
Bowl monopolized
Monopolize became the first horse to score back-to-back victories at the HKIR when claiming the Hong Kong International Bowl for the second time in 1996.
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1995
French success
The Elie Lellouche-trained Partipral won the Vase in 1995, which was one of the 14 French-trained HKIR winners over the years.
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1994
Soviet glory
Renowned international racehorse owner/breeder, the late Sheikh Maktoum Al Maktoum, had his first HKIR success with Soviet Line in the 1994 Hong Kong International Bowl.
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Dec 1993
Winning combo
For the first time at the meeting, Hong Kong runners won both the Invitation Cup and Bowl – the John Moore-trained Motivation landed the Cup while the Neville Begg-trained Winning Partners claimed the Bowl.
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Apr 1993
Mares in action
Romanee Conti became the second mare in four years to win the Hong Kong International Cup in April 1993. American mare Glen Kate won the Hong Kong International Bowl at the same meeting.
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1991
Masterful Mosse
Gerald Mosse rode River Verdon to win the 1991 Invitation Cup. The Frenchman went on to get seven more HKIR wins and remains one of the most successful jockey in HKIR history.
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1990
Kiwi double
The Hong Kong Invitation Cup was opened to European runners but it was New Zealand that became the first participating country to win the race twice, thanks to the excellent performance of Kessem.
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Dec 1989
Grey power
Grey Invader, winner of the 1989 Invitation Cup, was the first filly/mare to win at the HKIR.
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Jan 1989
Chief from Lion City
The Ivan Allan-trained Colonial Chief took top honours in the second running of the Hong Kong Invitation Cup with Tony Cruz on board, and became the first and only runner from Singapore to win at the HKIR.
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1988
International Races debut
The Hong Kong Invitation Cup was first run in January 1988. The race carried total prize money of HK$1.47 million, about 5.3 per cent of the HK$28 million purse for the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup in 2020.