Lord Lloyd-Webber is best
known for his string of worldwide smash hit musicals, including Cats, Starlight
Express and Phantom of the Opera, but in the shape of superstar filly The
Fugue, the famous composer has the chance to experience a standing ovation of a
different kind.
Lloyd-Webber's interest in
racing has grown thanks to his wife Madeleine, and between them they have built
up an impressive owning and breeding operation in the UK. The Fugue was
actually bred by the couple too and all connected with the four-year-old are getting
excited about her chances of adding a fourth G1 success to her resume in the
LONGINES Hong Kong Vase.
The Fugue, trained in the
UK by John Gosden and ridden by William Buick, was narrowly denied in the G1
Breeders' Cup Turf earlier this month, being caught late by Magician and beaten
half a length into second place. However the team behind the horse is hopeful
of a different outcome at Sha Tin on 8 December.
Simon Marsh, racing and
bloodstock manager for Lord & Lady Lloyd-Webber, reported that the 3-time
Group 1 winner has come out of her last race well.
"The Fugue had a very
good trip back from the Breeders' Cup and has been absolutely fine," he
said. "She is in very good form and we are very happy with her. She ran a
fantastic race at Santa Anita and it was a very good performance, but that's
racing."
The Dansili filly was an
unlucky third in last year's G1 Oaks at Epsom Downs and has since matured into
a world-class runner with versatility in her armoury. A first top-flight
success in the 2012 Nassau Stakes around Goodwood's climbing, turning, dipping
downland track, has been enhanced this campaign with a G1 Yorkshire Oaks
(2400m) triumph and an emphatic win against the boys in the G1 Irish Champion
Stakes (2000m).
"The track and the
conditions should suit her ideally in Hong Kong," continued Marsh.
"She won the G1 Nassau Stakes at Goodwood, which is a right-handed track,
and the ground should be fast, which she loves. The idea would be to keep her in
training next year. She is very talented and we are lucky to have her."
In the 19 runnings of the
2400m LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, British-trained horses have been successful on
seven occasions, most recently last year when Red Cadeaux prevailed. The
Fugue is due to arrive in Hong Kong on 2 December ahead of her bid to become
the eighth winner of the race from Great Britain.
To find out more about the
LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, The Turf World Championships, visit:
History
and past results of LONGINES Hong Kong International Races
Each December, Sha Tin
racecourse stages the Group 1 climax to the international racing year, a
four-race box of pre-Christmas delights worth a staggering HK$72 million. The
Hong Kong International Races has for over two decades drawn elite level
contenders alongside thousands of racing fans from across the globe, and in
2012, master Swiss watchmaker LONGINES joined the party as the event's title
sponsor.
The LONGINES Hong Kong
International Races can be traced back to 24 January 1988 when the Hong Kong
Jockey Club inaugurated the Hong Kong Invitation Cup. That event, the first
Hong Kong race open to overseas competitors, took root and evolved with
remarkable rapidity into the international end-of-year showcase that is today
known far and wide as The Turf World Championships. In 2012, the four LONGINES
Hong Kong International Races were ranked among the world's top 50 Group 1
races.
That 1988 event limited
its overseas scope to Singapore and Malaysia, but in December 1989 the door was
opened to Australasian contenders and two years later the invitations extended
to top runners from all major jurisdictions.
In 1989 the December slot
was established, although the 1992 event shifted to April 1993 due to an
outbreak of equine virus. In April 1993, five years after the Brian Kan-trained
Flying Dancer took the initial Invitation Cup, the race gained genuine global
standing when it attained international Group 3 status.
The year 1991 saw the
beginnings of the multi-race format with the 1400m Hong Kong Invitation Bowl
added to complement the Cup. Additional Risk took the inaugural prize for
legendary Irish trainer Dermot Weld, while in the Cup, Hong Kong champion River
Verdon saw off the Weld-trained Prudent Manner in a field that also included
runners from Britain, France and Australia.
The Invitation Bowl proved
a huge success in drawing high-class overseas raiders. The race extended in
distance and became the Hong Kong Mile in 1999, and attained Group 1 status in
2000 when the great New Zealand mare Sunline triumphed.
The Hong Kong Vase debuted
in 1994, providing an appealing draw for European raiders over the traditional
"classic distance" of 2400m. Red Bishop took that initial edition for
France-based John Hammond and the roll of honour also includes the likes of the
outstanding British mare Ouija Board (2005).
Three became four in 1999
when the Hong Kong Sprint joined the line-up and that race has showcased some
of Hong Kong's greatest talents to the world. Fairy King Prawn blitzed down the
straight 1000m track to take the first running and the great Silent Witness won
back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 before the race was switched to the 1200m course
from 2006 onwards. The Sprint attained Group 1 status in 2002, giving the
occasion a full complement of four top level international contests. Only 25
years on from its inception, Hong Kong racing's international day is now firmly
established as a global sporting spectacular.
The Races
LONGINES Hong Kong Cup
HK$22 million
The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup
is the jewel in the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races crown. It is the
oldest of the four races and the event upon which the occasion is built.
The race came into being
as the Hong Kong Invitation Cup, staged at Sha Tin in January, 1988. Hong Kong
legend Brian Kan saddled the first winner, Flying Dancer, in a race open to
raiders from Malaysia and Singapore. It was a Singaporean raider, Colonial
Chief that became the first overseas victor in 1989 when Hong Kong riding
legend Tony Cruz teamed up with trainer Ivan Allan. Australasian runners were
invited in December that year and in 1991 the race was opened to invitees from
all nations.
The contest was staged
twice in 1989 as the event moved from January to its December slot for the
third edition and it has become a firm end of year fixture, the only exception
being when the 1992 race was postponed due to equine flu and took place in April
1993.
From April 1993, the race
was re-titled the Hong Kong International Cup and was staged as an
international Group 3 contest, and in 1994 the Cup was upgraded to
international Group 2 status.
The race continued to
evolve into a contest of international merit and in 1999 the elite Group 1
standard was achieved. The race was renamed the Hong Kong Cup and the distance
was extended from 1800m to its current 2000m. The Hong Kong Cup has the
distinction of being the first Hong Kong race to achieve international Group 1
status.
The LONGINES Hong Kong Cup
received an increase of HK$2 million in purse money in 2012 when LONGINES
became the event's new sponsor, raising the total purse from HK$20 million to
HK$22 million.
Prize money distribution
as follow:
HK$
US$*
1st
12,540,000 1,616,000
2nd
4,840,000 624,000
3rd
2,200,000 284,000
4th
1,254,000 162,000
5th
726,000 94,000
6th
440,000 57,000
Total
22,000,000 2,836,000
LONGINES Hong Kong Mile
HK$20 million
Now one of the world's
elite Group One mile races, the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile started out in 1991 as
the Hong Kong Invitation Bowl, staged over 1400m. It was inaugurated to mark
Hong Kong's staging of the 22nd Asian Racing Conference in December of that
year.
A slight identity change
occurred in 1992 when it became the Hong Kong International Bowl and two years
later the race attained Group 3 status. That year, 1994, also saw Michael
Stoute send his subsequent dual Group 1 Lockinge Stakes hero Soviet Line from
England to land the spoils. International Group 2 status followed in 1995 when
Monopolize won the first of two back-to-back.
In 1999 the race became
the championship mile contest we know today. The distance was extended to 1600m
and the race rebranded as the Hong Kong Mile, and it was another UK raider,
Docksider, who took the honours.
The great New Zealand mare
Sunline arrived at Sha Tin in 2000 and carried off the first international
Group 1 edition of the Hong Kong Mile, but since Japan's Hat Trick scored in
2005, Hong Kong horses have made the race their own. Chief among the home
victors is the mighty Good Ba Ba, who is the only horse to win any HKIR three
times in succession (2007, 2008, 2009).
The Hong Kong Mile
received a boost of HK$4 million ahead of the 2011 renewal, which took the
prize purse to HK$20 million, making it one of the richest turf mile race in
the world.
Prize money distribution
as follow:
HK$
US$*
1st
11,400,000 1,469,000
2nd
4,400,000 567,000
3rd
2,000,000 258,000
4th
1,140,000 147,000
5th
660,000 85,000
6th
400,000 52,000
Total
20,000,000 2,578,000
LONGINES Hong Kong Vase
HK$15 million
The LONGINES Hong Kong
Vase is the last elite international 2400m race in the global racing calendar.
It came into being as the Hong Kong International Vase in December 1994, making
it the third international contest at what is today known as the LONGINES Hong
Kong International Races.
Red Bishop, trained in
France by John Hammond, won the first Hong Kong International Vase and since
then nine French-trained horses have triumphed. Most recent of those is
Dunaden, who in 2011 became the first Melbourne Cup winner to carry off the
Vase.
The race was granted
international Group 2 status ahead of the 1996 renewal, which went to Luso. The
Clive Brittain-trained UK raider returned victorious a year later to become the
first of two dual winners, the other being the Richard Gibson-trained Doctor
Dino (2007 & 2008).
The race was renamed the
Hong Kong Vase in 1999 and in 2000 the Vase was further upgraded to an
international Group 1 event.
The LONGINES sponsored
LONGINES Hong Kong Vase received an increase of HK$1 million in purse money in
2012, raising the total purse from HK$14 million to HK$15 million.
Prize money distribution
as follow:
HK$
US$*
1st
8,550,000 1,102,000
2nd
3,300,000 425,000
3rd
1,500,000 193,000
4th
855,000 110,000
5th
495,000 64,000
6th
300,000 39,000
Total
15,000,000 1,933,000
LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint
HK$15 million
The LONGINES Hong Kong
Sprint has been won by some of the world's outstanding speedsters and chief
among them is the great Hong Kong champion Silent Witness who scored in 2003
and 2004. The race was first contested as a 1000 metre Listed race in 1999 and
gained Group 3 status for the 2000 running. One year later it had achieved
Group 2 status and in 2002, after only three editions, the Hong Kong Sprint
became an international Group 1 event.
A significant change to
the race's make-up occurred in 2006 when it switched from the straight 1000m
track at Sha Tin and became a 1200m contest around a right-hand turn. In the
same year, the race became the final leg of the Global Sprint Challenge.
Hong Kong horses have won
10 of the 14 Hong Kong Sprints, with two of the most notable exceptions being J
J The Jet Plane for South Africa in 2010 and Lord Kanaloa for Japan in 2012.
The LONGINES sponsored
LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint received an increase of HK$1 million in purse money
in 2012, raising the total purse from HK$14 million to HK$15 million.
Prize money distribution
as follow:
HK$
US$*
1st
8,550,000 1,102,000
2nd
3,300,000 425,000
3rd
1,500,000 193,000
4th
855,000 110,000
5th
495,000 64,000
6th
300,000 39,000
Total
15,000,000 1,933,000
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