Wednesday,
6 December 2006
The Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship
will be held at Happy Valley Racecourse on 6 December. The championship
features 12 world-class riders who compete in three designated races.
Introduced in the 1998/1999 season, the event is a popular prelude to
the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races on 10 December.
Jockeys earn points according to the placings
of their mounts (see below). They are then ranked based on their total
points accumulated over the three races.
1st – 12 points
2nd – 6 points
3rd – 4 points
4th – 3 points
5th – 2 points
In the event of a deadheat in any of the first
5 placings, the points are added and divided by the number of horses
involved and these apportioned points are then given to each jockey
concerned. The champion jockey will receive a cash prize of HK$200,000
and the 1st runner-up will receive HK$100,000. Last year, ACE German jockey, Andrasch Starke, gained his second Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship.
History
Last year, ACE German jockey, Andrasch Starke, gained his second Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday, 7 December 2005.
Christophe Soumillon and Yutaka Take shared the honours in a thrilling finish to the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley in 2004.
The French based star, Soumillon, and Japanese ace, Take, scored a winner and a third apiece to score sixteen points. It is the first time the Silver Whip trophy and has had joint victors since its inception in 1998.
The previous winners of this event include Frankie Dettori (1999 and 2001), Olivier Peslier (1998), Andrasch Starke (2000 and 2005), Douglas Whyte (2002), Damien Oliver (2003), Christophe Soumillon (2004) and Yutaka Take (2004).
