The Hong Kong Derby was first run in 1873, 11 years before the establishment of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and this year marks the 131st renewal of the race. Like other derbies around the world, the Hong Kong Derby is regarded as the most prestigious race on the local racing calendar and has a special and distinguished status in the racing history of Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Derby in early days
The Hong Kong Derby was first run at Happy Valley over one and a half miles (approximately 2400 metres) and was won by Surprise. In the late 1800s, ponies imported from China were mainly used for racing in Hong Kong. It was only in the early 1900s that horses began to be imported from Australia. Owing to the difference in quality between these ponies and horses, the Jockey Club once staged two separate derbies for the two categories of contenders commencing from 1932. Hence, the Hong Kong Derby was then mainly run by ponies from China, and the Rooty-Hill Derby by horses from Australia. The Derby races were suspended during Japanese occupation until 1947 after the war was over, when a single Hong Kong Derby was resumed as the quality of runners became less uneven. The Derby held in that year was won by Norse Queen (「那茜后」), who was also the first Derby winner with a Chinese name.
Changes of conditions
The distance of the Hong Kong Derby has been changed many times. At the earliest stage, it was run over one and a half miles. In 1961/1962, the distance was changed to one mile three furlongs and 65 yards. The following year, the trip was set at one and a quarter miles, and in 1967 it was changed again to one mile and 171 yards. Owing to the metrication of race distances, the Derby trip was changed to 2230 metres in 1973. Since Sha Tin Racecourse was first opened in 1978, the race has been run there and the distance was initially set at 1800 metres. To be in line with the inaugural running of the World Series Racing Championship (the Hong Kong Cup being the finale of the series and it was upgraded to an International Group 1 over 2000 metres) and the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup (2000 metres) being upgraded to an International Group 2 (now an International Group 1), the Derby distance was stepped up from 1800 metres to 2000 metres in 1999/2000 in order to make this prestigious local race more consistent with the main stream of international racing.
Although the Derby is only for three-year-olds in many other countries, the Hong Kong Derby had its conditions changed in 1981 to become a race for four-year-olds only. This is mainly because all horses in Hong Kong are imported from overseas countries and they need adequate time for acclimatisation. Also, southern-hemisphere and northern-hemisphere horses are different in maturity levels. In order to be fair, they should not compete in the same race until they have attained a similar level of maturity.
Local group races came into existence in 1991/1992 and the Hong Kong Derby is currently run as a Hong Kong Group 1. The race carried a purse of HK$ 30,000 in 1971/1972, the first season after Hong Kong racing turned professional. It was then progressively increased to HK$16 million last season.
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