Hong Kong International Races
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Hong Kong International Races (香港國際賽事) is an event consisting of the four most prestigious horse races in Hong Kong hosted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The four races are: Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), Hong Kong Mile (1600m), Hong Kong Cup (2000m), and Hong Kong Vase (2400m).
The event is run annually in mid-December at Sha Tin Racecourse.
The event has been sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways from 2004 to 2011. But since 2012, the Swiss watch brand, Longines, has been sponsoring the event, with its official title as Longines Hong Kong International Races.[1]
The event is televised around the globe. In 2006, the total purse was 62 million HKD, which was increased to 110 million HKD in 2022.
1989 marked the start of the Hong Kong Cup, which was initially called Hong Kong Invitation Cup and restricted to horses from Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong. The first winner was Flying Dancer, owned by Lim Por Yen and trained by Ping Chee Kan.
The race quickly gained attention and was gradually opened to horses from other countries. Starting in 1991 other races were added to the program and today horses from all over the world compete in the event.
