It says plenty for the prestige attached to the LONGINES International Jockeys\u2019 Championship (IJC) that reigning champion Mickael Barzalona can place last year\u2019s wire-to-wire success among his highlights for the last 12 months.<\/p>
In a dazzling 2025, Barzalona has scored maiden victories in the G1 Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe (2400m), G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2392m) and G1 Japan Cup (2400m), while adding win number two at both the Breeders\u2019 Cup and in the G1 Champion Stakes (2000m).<\/p>
Still, the scenes surrounding the 2024 LONGINES IJC \u2013 his sixth attempt at the Happy Valley spectacular \u2013 remain vivid in Barzalona\u2019s mind.<\/p>
\u201cIt\u2019s a wonderful memory and it\u2019s always a great line-up of jockeys who are there because they have enjoyed great success during their domestic seasons and internationally. So, it\u2019s a wonderful way to round off the year and I\u2019ve always been very excited to take part.\u201d<\/p>
Barzalona bookended the night with a pair of victories earned in contrasting styles, dropping 37\/1 chance Sergeant Pepper in front in the last stride to deny William Buick, before stretching clear of his rivals in the final leg for a victory lap on the Pierre Ng-trained Aurora Lady.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Aurora Lady strikes with Mickael Barzalona engaged.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cStarting with a winner was huge,\u201d Barzalona said. \u201cHaving ridden in it a few times before, I knew how tough it would be, and even though a couple of my rides had an obvious chance, there\u2019s always the possibility of getting a bad trip or making the wrong choice at a crucial moment. So, putting maximum points on the board first up was a big help.<\/p>
\u201cPierre gave me a lot of confidence going out before the final leg and I knew that if I finished in the first three I would probably be the winner. It was wonderful to do it.\u201d<\/p>
Now 34 years of age, one of Barzalona\u2019s strengths as a jockey is that he retains an equilibrium, whatever the circumstances, never getting too high or too low on himself.<\/p>
His riding has been a match for the occasion in a string of the world\u2019s best races, guiding the Aga Khan Studs-owned Calandagan \u2013 who currently sits atop the LONGINES World\u2019s Best Racehorse Rankings \u2013 to a collection of victories, as well as snatching the Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe aboard Daryz in the final strides.<\/p>
\u201cHonestly, this year could not have gone any better,\u201d Barzalona said. \u201cWhen you look back and think about winning the Arc, the King George, the Champion Stakes and the Japan Cup, it\u2019s been magical.\u201d<\/p>
As 2025 draws to a close, Hong Kong will be the stage as Barzalona bids to add some final stardust to his dream season. He is hungrier than ever to show up well in the LONGINES IJC; last year\u2019s victory is all the inspiration he needs for next week.\u00a0<\/p>
Barzalona said: \u201cWinning once gives you a taste for it and if anything, this year\u2019s line-up is even stronger, with Christophe Lemaire, James McDonald, William Buick and Ryan Moore. I find it incredible that The Hong Kong Jockey Club manages to bring so many of the world\u2019s best together for one night.\u201d<\/p>
The stars will be out at Happy Valley on Wednesday, 10 December, and after a stellar 2025, Barzalona shines as bright as any.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”9770″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]It says plenty for the prestige attached to the LONGINES International Jockeys\u2019 Championship (IJC) that reigning champion Mickael Barzalona can place last year\u2019s wire-to-wire success among his highlights for the last 12 months.In a dazzling 2025, Barzalona has scored maiden victories in the G1 Prix de l\u2019Arc de Triomphe (2400m), G1… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":9772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9768"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9775,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9768\/revisions\/9775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-hkir\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}