Champion Awards (Election Criteria & Schedule)

Message from the Champion Awards Judging Panel

The 2022/23 season has contained a string of incredible world-class sporting highlights as Hong Kong reverted to normality with the easing of COVID-19 conditions and the removal of pandemic protocols.

At the beginning of the season, we still needed to manage challenges associated with the pandemic, but we were able to overcome these obstacles and run the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races successfully.

From a sporting perspective, we have witnessed the amazing extension of Golden Sixty’s astonishing career, with three Group 1 victories, the stunning advance of Lucky Sweynesse, also with three Group 1 triumphs and a record-equalling eight wins this season, the consistency of Romantic Warrior, with two Group 1 wins and the globe-trotting feats of Russian Emperor, who also posted a pair of Group 1 victories.

Francis Lui’s decision to restrict Golden Sixty to only five starts this season paid off handsomely with four wins and just one defeat in a campaign where history was in lockstep with Hong Kong’s champion at virtually every turn.

Toppled by California Spangle in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m), Golden Sixty reverted to type in devastating fashion under Vincent Ho with wins in the G1 Stewards’ Cup (1600m), G1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (2000m), where he downed Romantic Warrior, and the G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) to take his overall record to 25 wins and three placings from 29 starts, while extending his record prize money to HK$147,930,600.

Hong Kong’s Champion Sprinter (2021/2022) Wellington showcased his wares with a fourth Group 1 success in the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m) for Richard Gibson and Ryan Moore against international opposition, while Zac Purton and Tony Cruz combined with California Spangle to land the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m). Romantic Warrior’s performance to win the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) for Danny Shum and James McDonald against formidable visiting rivals was world-class, while Japan’s Win Marilyn was superb under Damian Lane for Takahisa Tezuka in clinching the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m).

The LONGINES Hong Kong International Races have long been a global benchmark but the 2022 edition, in which we welcomed back international horsemen and media, delivered a new high watermark with the stunning quality horseracing and world-class entertainment. Similarly, 2023 FWD Champions Day, was a wonderful success as Lucky Sweynesse continued his advance from 98 in the Hong Kong ratings at the start of the season with a resounding victory in the G1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m), Golden Sixty created more history by becoming the first horse to post three successive wins in the G1 FWD Champions Mile (1600m) and Romantic Warrior delivered a truly remarkable performance to snare a second successive G1 FWD QEII Cup (2000m).

In a magnificent season of achievements, Russian Emperor triumphantly flew Hong Kong’s flag in the Middle East with a tremendous win in the QAT G1 H. H. The Amir Trophy (2400m) in Doha for Douglas Whyte before returning to Hong Kong to join a select band of horses to claim a second consecutive G1 Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup (2400m).

The Four-Year-Old Classic series was again compelling. Ricky Yiu struck first with Voyage Bubble under a magnificent front-running ride from Jamie Kah to land the Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m) before Super Sunny Sing under Vincent Ho gave Chris So his most important success in Hong Kong by winning the Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) to set the stage of for an epic BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m).

For the fourth successive year, Hong Kong’s Classic was decided by a slender margin as Alexis Badel and Ricky Yiu defied convention to triumph with the brave Voyage Bubble who, despite starting from barrier 14 and covering ground under a calculated ride by Badel, was able to prevail in the “Once in a lifetime” contest.

Zac Purton has streaked towards a sixth Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with Vincent Ho also in the midst of a personal-best season, while John Size was honoured with a record 12^th Hong Kong Champion Trainer title.

Conghua Racecourse’s world-class facilities continue to play a significant role in Hong Kong racing and by 12 July, it had produced 172 wins from 824 races (20.8%) with horses who won at Sha Tin or Happy Valley immediately following a Conghua preparation.

The quality of Hong Kong’s elite horses and races was again apparent with 15 horses featuring in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2022, while ten of the jurisdiction’s Group 1 races figured in the LONGINES Top 100 races for the same period.

High-quality horses are the foundation of Hong Kong’s world-class racing. To incentivise our Owners to compete for bringing the best horses to Hong Kong, the Club provided further incentives via prizemoney and bonus structure with an increase of 8.7% to HK$1.73 billion across the 2023/24 season. Together with the 10.3% increase last season, this represents a total increase of 20% across the past two seasons.

On behalf of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, we extend our thanks to all who have contributed and worked to make the season a success, including the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists and the Hong Kong Racehorse Owners Association. Thank you also to all owners and Club staff for their understanding and support during what has been a challenging phase, and to all racing fans for their unquenchable passion. We look forward to next season with optimism and confidence and the racing community’s continued support.

ELECTION CRITERIA AND SCHEDULE

The Champion Trainer, Champion Jockey and Tony Cruz Award (to be presented to Freelance Jockey or Apprentice) shall be based on the result of their performance, namely the number of wins in the 2022/2023 Season. The Most Improved Horse shall be based on performance, namely the horse with the greatest rating increase in the 2022/2023 Season. In the event of a tie, the award shall go to the horse with the higher rating and if there is a tie still, to the horse which has earned higher prize money in the current season.

The Judging Panel shall elect the Champion Sprinter, Champion Miler, Champion Middle-distance Horse, Champion Stayer, Champion Four-Year-Old and Champion Griffin. All nominations shall be Hong Kong resident horses. Excluding the Champion Griffin category, all nominees must have won a Group race, a Four-Year-Old Classic Series race or been Group 1 placed in Hong Kong during the season to be eligible. In addition, overseas performances after the arrival of the horse in Hong Kong are eligible for consideration using the same criteria. The horse receiving the highest number of votes from the Judging Panel shall become the winner in that category. The Horse of the Year will be elected from the winners of the respective distance categories, excluding the Champion Griffin.

All four-year-olds as on 1 January of the current season are eligible to be nominated for the Champion Four-Year-Old category, while new griffins of the current season shall be nominated for the Champion Griffin category.

“The Most Popular Horse of the Year” and “The Most Popular Jockey of the Year” will be voted by the public as a lead-up marketing initiative.

The winning horse for each category will be determined by way of anonymous ballot by Judging Panel members. The results will be compiled, in confidence, by the Honorary Auditor and will be kept in sealed envelopes until the announcement.

In the event that there is a tie in the election and a casting vote is required from the Chairman of the Judging Panel, the Chairman will place his casting vote in confidence under the witness of the auditor.

The Awards

There shall be 13 awards including the two lead-up marketing events, namely, “The Most Popular Jockey” and “The Most Popular Horse”. Their names and election methods are as follows: