The three-month Dubai World Cup Carnival 2023 officially returned on 6 January, resuming the pre-pandemic practice of taking place in the first week of January.
The Focus 2023 Dubai World Cup Racing Day will take place on the last Saturday of March (25 March), with Hong Kong horses already registered for the day. This is also the first time in three years, Hong Kong and Malaysia once again embarked on the road to Dubai.
Among them, "Mr. Doba" of Fangjiaba Stable will compete in the Dubai Sima Classic (2410m Level 1 – grass), the "Flywheel Shining" formation will compete in the Dubai Grass Race (1800m Grade 1 – grass), the "Visible Star" of Fang Jiabai Stable and the "Jucai" of David Hiss' stable will compete for the Ajos Short Course Stakes (1200m 1st – Grass).
"Heart Star" won the Longines Hong Kong Sprint Stakes (1200m) in 2021
As the world's most lucrative horse racing event, the Dubai World Cup attracts a large number of the world's top ladies every year. Hong Kong also sends horses to compete almost every year, and has made several appearances, including the victory of the Dubai Sima Classic in 2007, which made the horse the first Hong Kong horse to compete at the Dubai World Cup Carnival. "Fashion" won the Ajos Short Course Stakes in 2010; City of Strength won the Sands Stakes in Dubai in 2014; On the same day, "Chongshan Bao" even won the Achos Short Course Stakes with a new record time of 56.21 seconds, and Moreira, who saddled the "City of Strength" and "Chongshan Bao" on the same day, was even more shocked and became the focus of the horse world.
In 2007, "Claw Emperor Lingyu" won the Dubai Sima Classic
However, due to the impact of the epidemic, Hong Kong and Malaysia have abandoned Dubai since 2020. Although the 2020 Dubai World Cup Racing Day was eventually postponed to 2021, Hong Kong Malaysia has been away from Dubai for three years in terms of voluntary abandonment.
In addition, before September this year, Hong Kong horses had not traveled overseas for three years. Even the horse kings "Jia Long Ju" (deceased), "Beautiful Heritage" (retired), etc., are only willing to stay in Hong Kong as local kings.
The most recent expedition overseas was in September 2022. On September 4, two high-prize international races in South Korea, the Korean Sprint (1,200 meters, sand) and the Korean Cup (1,800 meters), were held on the sand track of Seoul Racecourse. This is also the first time that the "Korea Cup" and "Korean Sprint Championship" have returned to the international horse scene after a two-year absence, and have been upgraded to the international third class. Jia Si from Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom will challenge the home team for up to one billion won in prize money in each match. Although the two representative horses of Hong Kong, "Golden Armor" and "Table Intelligence", failed due to poor performance, they broke the situation that Hong Kong horses have not gone out to compete for several years.
2022 Korea Sprint Championship Image from Twitter
Now, with the spread of vaccines, the impact of the pandemic on the world's horse racing economy continues to decline, and more economies are reopening their economies, opening their borders, and choosing a model to live with the pandemic. International personnel and transportation will slowly return to their original state, and Hong Kong horses and iron shoes will also re-enter the arena of various countries and strive for good results.
It is understood that the Dubai World Cup Racing Day holds 6 international first-class races (G1) and 2 international second-level races (G2) in one day, which is the world's most prize money racing day, representing the world's top racing level.
Can Hong Kong horses get a piece of the pie on Dubai World Cup Racing Day? We'll see!
Image from the official website of the Dubai World Cup