A superlative 2024-25 Hong Kong racing season drew to a close at Happy Valley on Wednesday [July 16], concluding one of the greatest chapters in Hong Kong racing history.
With three of the world’s top six racehorses according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s respected Global Rankings, the individual and collective feats of Hong Kong’s equine titans – Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble – elevated Hong Kong’s world-class racing onto an even higher plane during a record-breaking and historic season.
Led by Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble, Hong Kong’s champion horses won 11 of the world’s top G1 races in 2024-25, while eight of the city’s elite races were included in the 2024 Longines World’s Top 100 G1 races, demonstrating the enduring quality of the HKJC offering.
Current world #1 Ka Ying Rising has spent 12 weeks at the top on TRC Rankings, having taken over from world #2 Romantic Warrior after beating subsequent Royal Ascot runner-up Satono Reve in the G1 Champions Sprint Prize at Sha Tin in April. Voyage Bubble currently sits at #6.
Additionally, 12 Hong Kong-trained horses received an international rating of 115 or higher in the year-ending 2024 Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. This is quite an accomplishment given Hong Kong has a pool of about 1,300 horses in training – or less than one per cent of the world’s racehorse population.
“It’s been an amazing season, with outstanding performances by top horses that have truly captured the imagination of fans not just in Hong Kong but around the world,” said HKJC chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.
“Since the policy address of HKSAR chief executive John Lee, we have been able to attract even more mainland and overseas tourists, who have come to our racecourses in record numbers to experience our city’s signature sport for themselves.
“These achievements strengthen the position of Hong Kong racing as a world-class sport and entertainment experience. They have also made an important contribution to Hong Kong tourism as well as underlining Hong Kong’s vital role as a centre for East-West exchange.”
The quality of Hong Kong horses was again illustrated at the territory’s two international flagship events, the Longines-sponsored HL International Races and FWD Champions Day. Competing against 41 overseas runners from seven different nations and jurisdictions, Hong Kong’s finest triumphed in five of seven G1 features.
Three flagbearers
Three flagbearer horses shared the spotlight in Hong Kong and also on the global stage. Ka Ying Rising became only the third Hong Kong horse to win eight races in a single season, and also gained the status as the world’s top-rated sprinter with four G1 victories and twice breaking Sha Tin’s 1200m course record – a mark which had been held by Sacred Kingdom since 2007.
In doing so, he stretched his winning streak to 12 races, the third-longest in Hong Kong racing history behind Silent Witness (17 races) and Golden Sixty (16 races).
Ka Ying Rising’s invincible season also saw him become the fifth horse to capture the three-race Hong Kong Speed Series bonus of HK$5 million, following his G1 victories in the Centenary Sprint Cup, Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and Chairman’s Sprint Prize. Romantic Warrior’s globetrotting heroics continued with victory in the G1 Jebel Hatta in Dubai in a track-record time. Adding to victories in Hong Kong, Japan and Australia over the past two seasons, Romantic Warrior became the first HK-trained horse to win G1 races in four different racing jurisdictions.
Narrow defeats in both the Saudi Cup and Dubai Turf, where he placed second in both races, served only to underscore his champion status, as well as making him the world’s richest racehorse in terms of career earnings.
Voyage Bubble became the city’s second Triple Crown winner, and first in 31 years, by matching the feat of River Verdon with victories in the Stewards’ Cup, Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup and Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup in the same season.
Trainers and jockeys
In addition to champion horses, this season saw our top trainers and jockeys add new laurels to their crowns. John Size advanced to a record-extending 13th Hong Kong trainers’ championship with 69 wins, while Zac Purton was crowned Hong Kong champion jockey for an eighth time with 138 victories, as Matthew Poon won the Tony Cruz Award for leading home-grown jockey.
Zac Purton surpassed Douglas Whyte’s record of 1,813 Hong Kong wins for a jockey and finished the season with 1,878 victories, while Size made it past the 1,600 Hong Kong-win milestone.
“Hong Kong racing is truly world-class and I am immensely proud of the performances of our champion horses, jockeys and trainers,” added Engelbrecht-Bresges.
“The achievements of amazing horses such as Ka Ying Rising, Romantic Warrior and Voyage Bubble reflect the expertise, dedication and passion of our trainers and jockeys as well as the strong commitment of our owners, who continue to make significant investments to secure the best available equine talent.”
Rewards and incentives
“Rewarding and incentivising horse owners for their tremendous contributions is a priority for the Club,” said Engelbrecht-Bresges.
“Their contributions create economic and social benefits through their investment to bring overseas quality horses to Hong Kong. In 2024-25, we introduced a suite of initiatives including an enhanced Private Purchase Bonus Scheme of HK$1.5 million for eligible horses, an investment of HK$140m to reduce livery fees and to increase travel subsidies for Hong Kong owners to export their retired horses by HK50,000 per horse.
“Thanks to these and other initiatives in the 2024/25 season, Hong Kong’s horse population significantly increased from 1,203 horses in June 2024 to 1,296 [as of June 30]. Notably, the number of horses in Class 3 and above rose from 414 in 2023/24 to 441 in 2024-25.
“In addition, applications for 2026-27 Horse Import Permits increased by 11.9%, with submissions for both Private Purchase (PP) and Private Purchase Griffin (PPG) permits, while the success of syndicate ownership continues to stand out.”
To promote syndicate horse ownership, during the 2024-2025 season the Club relaxed the cap on the number of syndicates any one member can join from four to seven, while the number of horses any one owner can own at any one time increased from five to seven.
Ka Ying Rising and Voyage Bubble are among those raced by syndicates, while G1 winner Invincible Sage and HK Classic Cup victor Rubylot are also raced by groups of owners.
Record prize-money for G1 events
With total prize-money at a record level of HK$1.74 billion, the HKJC’s G1 races, particularly those staged on its flagship racedays, the Longines HK International Races and FWD Champions Day, are highly regarded for the global fields of equine talent they attract.
To uphold their prestige, the Club will offer record prize money totalling HK$208m in these races in the 2025-26 season through increases of HK$2m for four feature races.
For FWD Champions Day, prize money for the FWD QEII Cup will rise to HK$30m, while the Chairman’s Sprint Prize will increase to HK$24m, taking the total prize money for the three G1 races to a total of HK$78m.
For the international day in December, the increases apply to the HK Sprint, with prize money rising to HK$28m, and the HK Vase, rising to HK$26m, while the HK Mile stays on HK$36m and the HK Cup will be run for prize money of HK$40m, taking the total G1 prize-money purse to HK$130m.
Conghua racecourse: new era beckons
Once again Conghua racecourse, with its state-of-the-art training and rehabilitation facilities has been vital to the success of the season. On average, 440 horses were trained in CRC this season, with 219 horses from 19 stables notching 302 wins, an increase of 17.7% and 24.3% respectively on last season.
The Club is well-advanced in its preparations for the start of regular racing at Conghua in October 2026, with the iconic grandstand nearing completion. Together, Sha Tin, Happy Valley and Conghua will form a triangle of racecourses that will showcase the world-class quality of the Club’s horse racing sport combined with entertainment.
It will promote the Greater Bay Area as a premier tourist destination. Most importantly, it will also advance the Club’s support for the National Equine Industry Development Plan, which seeks to develop a high-quality equine industry in the mainland.
“The contribution of Conghua racecourse to horse training and care has been nothing short of remarkable,” claimed Engelbrecht-Bresges. “But with the start of international-standard racing in October 2026, Conghua, and the Club, will enter a whole new era.
“Our aim is to make Conghua a truly iconic and must-go destination, a place not only to enjoy the best racing but also to be truly inspired about all forms of horse sports. There will be an experience centre featuring cutting-edge audio-visuals to engage visitors with an appreciation of the horse and there will be retail, dining and online experiences, all integrated with our racing. We want to make Conghua a truly memorable day out for everyone who visits.”
Attendance figures
This season total racecourse attendance was over 1.7 million, including a record 195,786 mainland tourists, plus international visitors. This was a significant 110% increase on the 93,000 mainland tourists who visited last season.
In particular, major racedays set new records for tourist attendance, with the Chinese New Year Raceday, BMW Hong Kong Derby and FWD Champions Day meetings each attracting 9,000 tourists. These included high-end international tourists for the flagship flagship Longines HK International Races and FWD Champions Day.
The HKSAR Chief Executive’s recognition of horse racing tourism in his Policy Address created new momentum for the Club to take racing tourism to the next level, as did the incorporation of racing tourism into the Hong Kong Tourism Board’s Development Blueprint for Hong Kong’s Tourism Industry 2.0 and the establishment of a ground-breaking strategic partnership between the Club and China Travel Service (Holdings) Hong Kong Limited to strengthen the promotion of tourism within the Greater Bay Area, including racecourse tourism.
Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “It has been a real pleasure to welcome so many tourists from overseas and the mainland to our racecourses and to see how much they appreciate the unique quality of our racecourse experience, which is truly like no other. Next season there will be even more to impress them, including an entirely new arrival experience at Sha Tin racecourse.”
Turnover increases
In total, racing fans enjoyed 88 race meetings this season, including seven summer series fixtures, comprising 847 Hong Kong races and 393 overseas simulcast races.
Total racing wagering turnover for the season was HK$138.85 billion, representing a 3.0% increase on the 2023/24 season. This is a very encouraging return to growth after the 4.5% decline last season, and reflects the success of strategies introduced last year.
The growth in racing turnover was driven primarily by optimised jackpot offerings, improved field sizes, increased mainland and international sports tourism, and the continued success of globalising Hong Kong Racing via commingling combined with the Club’s international simulcast under World Pool Strategy. Hong Kong has developed into a centre of excellence for global racing wagering.
Notably, Hong Kong races attracted record commingling turnover of HK$31.76bn, a 10.1% increase on the 2023-24 season. This strong trend reflects the high profile of Hong Kong racing internationally, with 26 countries and more than 70 partners now commingling on Hong Kong racing.
A notable highlight was achieved at the Chinese New Year Raceday in January, with commingling turnover surging by 23.7% to HK$510.4 million, setting a new record in the process and surpassing HK$500 million for the first time
.
Additional simulcasts
Hong Kong fans were able to enjoy more of the world’s finest races this season thanks to the Government’s approval of additional simulcasts. The Club offered 393 simulcast races in 2024/25 season, a 7% increase on the 368 during the previous 12 months, with enhanced racing information being provided for overseas customers.
The simulcast schedule focused on showcasing the world’s Top 100 G1 races, highlighting the global nature of Hong Kong wagering. In total, 71 overseas races that had been in the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ (IFHA) Top 100 at least once during the previous three years were simulcast, up from 61 the previous season. Overall, turnover on simulcasting (including World Pool commingling) for the season was up by 2.3% to HK$13.11bn.
Through the World Pool, the Club aims to offer global parimutuel wagering with deep liquidity on the very best international races. This season, the number of World Pool races increased from 258 to 296 including, for the first time, all 12 of the Club’s G1 races as well as top races from New Zealand. Commingling turnover into the World Pool (excluding Club races) recorded an 8.4% increase over last season.
• Visit the Hong Kong Jockey Club website
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires