Great racing was the order of the day at the 2014 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races. The day’s four Group 1 events all featured stunning performances of global merit, with Designs On Rome, Able Friend and Aerovelocity scoring for Hong Kong, and Flintshire hitting the target for overseas connections.

A crowd of 78,000 on course created an atmosphere befitting the Turf World Championships, and the enthusiastic race fans all but lifted the Sha Tin roof when Joao Moreira, currently leading the Hong Kong jockeys’ championship, followed up a record-margin victory on Able Friend in the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile with a last-gasp triumph on Designs On Rome in a thrilling renewal of the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup.

Hong Kong horses filled the first two places in three of the four races, the Mile, the Cup and the LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint, with Areovelocity battling to a determined win over the three-year-old Peniaphobia in the speed showcase. The day’s stamina test, the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase, saw the French-trained Flintshire – rated behind only the brilliant Treve among the world’s current 2400m gallopers – score from Hong Kong hope Willie Cazals.

“It has been another great Hong Kong International Races week and today we have ended with a fantastic racing event as the highlight. It's been a perfect way to celebrate the Club’s 130th anniversary season,” said Hong Kong Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Mr. Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.

The attendance at Hong Kong’s two racecourses, including customers at Happy Valley racecourse, was the highest since 2000, while the crowd of 74,000 at Sha Tin racecourse was the largest since 1997.

“To have 78,000 people attending is a fantastic result and shows that Hong Kong racing has a genuine vibrancy and is relevant to our customers,” said Mr. Engelbrecht-Bresges. “We want to stage the greatest show on turf and that is not just today, it is the whole week, starting with the LONGINES IJC right through to today. We are happy with what we have achieved and now, as we always do, we must look at ways to set the bar even higher.”

“All of this would not be possible without the great partnership we have with LONGINES. It’s fantastic that we had the vision to couple this world class event with elegance, and this strategy has definitely helped us to shape this event and bring it to the next level.”

This year marked the third time in four years that Hong Kong horses have won three of the four Hong Kong International Races.

“We have had four thrilling world-class races,” continued Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges. “Today has been the perfect occasion to showcase the quality and vibrancy of Hong Kong racing, and to promote Hong Kong racing as a world brand.”

As well as increased attendance, the world-class racing pushed turnover for the day past HK$1.468 billion, the highest since 1997 and an increase of 7.6% on 2013.

“We have seen tremendous growth in the attendance here today and I think part of that is down to our simulcasting, our ability to show races from overseas,” said Mr. William A. Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing. “We now have 15 simulcast days and I think Hong Kong is now waking up and is having the exposure to great international events overseas. This day today certainly fits among the world’s best racing occasions on the global calendar.”

Mr. Nader also noted a new benchmark in commingling, a new initiative in which people overseas in countries like America, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Macau can watch Hong Kong races and wager into Hong Kong pools.

“Today the commingling pool was a new record for us of HK$56 million and it is steadily growing. I expect that will just get bigger and bigger and it is great for our brand that we can take our racing in Hong Kong and showcase it overseas,” he said