Hong Kong Cup
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The Hong Kong Cup is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong for three-year-old and above thoroughbreds run over a distance of 2,000 metres (approximately 1 mile 2 furlongs) at Sha Tin Racecourse in mid December.
It was first run in 1988 over 1,800 metres (1 mile 1 furlong), which was increased to the present distance in 1999 when the race became a Group 1. It is one of the four Hong Kong International Races.
The first race was restricted to horses trained in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Added to this list for the following season were horses from Australia and New Zealand. European trained horses were admitted in 1990, followed by those from the United States in 1991, Canada and Japan in 1992.
The race was originally staged in January, and was switched to December for the third running, therefore taking place twice within 1989.
[edit] Winners
- Pre Group 1 years indicated by shading.
| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Time |
| 1988 | Flying Dancer | 5 | Bartie Leisher | Ping Chee Kan | Lim Por Yen | 1:48.6 |
| 1989 | Colonial Chief | 4 | Tony Cruz | Ivan Allan | Promise Stable | 1:49.3 |
| 1989 | Grey Invader | 4 | G Stewart | A Clarke | E J Johnson et al | 1:48.0 |
| 1990 | Kessem | 5 | Kevin Moses | Brian Smith | B Duncan et al | 1:48.4 |
| 1991 | River Verdon | 4 | Gérald Mossé | David Hill | Sir Oswald Cheung & Ronald Arculli | 1:49.8 |
| 1992 | Romanee Conti * | 4 | Greg Childs | Laurie Laxon | Peter & Philip Vela | 1:48.2 |
| 1993 | Motivation | 5 | J Marshall | J Moore | Mr & Mrs Hui Sai Fun | 1:49.2 |
| 1994 | State Taj | 5 | Damien Oliver | J Riley | Neville Begg & Partners | 1:48.4 |
| 1995 | Fujiyama Kenzan | 7 | Masayoshi Ebina | Hideyuki Mori | Tatsuya Fujimoto | 1:47.0 |
| 1996 | First Island | 4 | Michael Hills | Geoff Wragg | Mollers Racing | 1:48.2 |
| 1997 | Val's Prince | 5 | Cash Asmussen | James Picou | Robin Martin & Steve Weiner | 1:47.2 |
| 1998 | Midnight Bet | 4 | Hiroshi Kawachi | Hiroyuki Nagahama | Shadai Racehorse Co | 1:46.9 |
| 1999 | Jim and Tonic | 5 | Gérald Mossé | François Doumen | John Martin | 2:01.4 |
| 2000 | Fantastic Light | 4 | Frankie Dettori | Saeed bin Suroor | Godolphin Stables | 2:02.2 |
| 2001 | Agnes Digital | 4 | Hirofumi Shii | Toshiaki Shirai | Takao Watanabe | 2:02.8 |
| 2002 | Precision | 4 | Michael Kinane | David Oughton | Wu Sai Wing | 2:07.1 |
| 2003 | Falbrav | 5 | Frankie Dettori | Luca Cumani | Scuderia Rencati & Teruya Yoshida | 2:00.9 |
| 2004 | Alexander Goldrun | 3 | Kevin Manning | Jim Bolger | Miriam O'Callaghan | 2:03.3 |
| 2005 | Vengeance of Rain | 4 | Anthony Delpech | David Ferraris | Raymond Gianco Chow Hon Man | 2:04.5 |
| 2006 | Pride | 6 | Christophe Lemaire | Alain de Royer-Dupré | NP Bloodstock Ltd | 2:01.6 |
* The "1992" race actually took place in April 1993 - it had been postponed in December due to an equine virus.
