David Thiselton
Luke Ferraris is within grasping distance of getting a berth in the world’s most famous jockeys competition, the International Jockeys Challenge at Happy Valley, which will take place on December 10.
The three berths given to locally based jockeys are for champion jockey, leading jockey of the current season and leading homegrown jockey.
Zac Purton is well clear in the current championship, but had already earned a berth as champion jockey, so the berth for leading jockey goes to the second-placed jockey.
The contenders are Ferraris, who is in second place with 15 wins, Bowman who is on 14 wins, Alexis Badel on 12 wins and Lyle Hewitson and Karis Teetan who are both on elevens wins.
The Happy Valley meeting on Wednesday (26 November) is the last meeting which counts towards the choice of local IJC riders.
Hewitson won the last race at Sha Tin on Sunday to give himself a mathematical chance of still winning a berth, although it is highly unlikely he will do so and it looks to be a straight fight between Ferraris and Bowman.
The fight for a place among the homegrown jockeys has also developed into a two horse race after Vincent Ho and Jerry Chau both struck at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Ho leads Chau with 11 wins to 10.
Ho is the only homegrown jockey to have ever won the IJC, winning it in 2023 and earning the fist prize of HK$600,000.
Gavin Lerena was the last South African to have won the IJC in 2015. He won the last two races of the four-race competition that year.
Douglas Whyte has also been a previous winner of the challenge.
The ten jockeys who are already in the IJ are Zac Purton, defending champion Mickael Barzalona, James McDonald, Christophe Lemaire, Umberto Rispoli, Hollie Doyle, Rachel King, Joao Moreira, William Buick and Ryan Moore (subject to fitness).
Meanwhile, the world’s best sprinter, Ka Ying Rising extended his unbeaten run to 15 races on Sunday at Sha Tin when romping home in the HK$5.35 million Gr 2 BOCHK Private Banking Jockey Club Sprint over 1200m.
He obliterated nine rivals in clocking the second-fastest time in history over 1200m at Sha Tin, 1m 07.33s, marginally outside his own track record of 1m 07.20s, despite being eased down over the last 100m by jockey Zac Purton.
Conceding five pounds to the rest of the field, the world’s highest-rated sprinter jumped cleanly to lead from barrier ten before settling in second place behind Beauty Waves and, such was his superiority, Purton said the tempo was still not fast enough, despite a blistering sectional of 21.93s from the 800m to the 400m.
Purton quickly put the issue beyond doubt on straightening as Ka Ying Rising surged clear inside the last 200m before being allowed to saunter to the line.
The winning margin of two-and-three-quarter lengths flattered runner-up Fast Network (123lb) with Helios Express third, a further length-and-three-quarters away.
Ka Ying Rising’s 15th consecutive win leaves him third overall for the most wins in a row by a Hong Kong-trained horse behind Silent Witness (17) and Golden Sixty (16).
The world’s highest earning racehorse in history, Romantic Warrior, made his comeback from a layoff at the same meeting on Sunday.
Resuming after 232 days between races after surgery to his left fore fetlock, Romantic Warrior lifted his world record earnings to HK$217.7 million as he became the first horse to win a third Gr 2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup after victories in 2022 and 2024.
