The Hong Kong Cup is a Group 1

Conditions races

Conditions races are horse races where the weights carried by the runners are laid down by the conditions attached to the race. Weights are allocated according to; the sex of the runners, with female runners carrying less weight than males; the age of the runners, with younger horses receiving...

 flat

Flat racing

Flat racing is a form of Thoroughbred horse racing which is run over a level track at a predetermined distance. It differs from steeplechase racing which is run over hurdles...

 horse race

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

 which is open to thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

s aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 2000 metres (about 1¼ miles) at Sha Tin

Sha Tin Racecourse

Sha Tin Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing in Hong Kong. It is located in Sha Tin in the New Territories. It is managed by Hong Kong Jockey Club.Penfold Park is encircled by the track.-History:...

, and it is scheduled to take place each year in mid December.

The race was first run on January 24, 1988, and its distance was initially set at 1800 metres. The inaugural running was restricted to horses trained in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

. Added to this list for the following season were horses from Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. The race was switched to December for its third running, therefore taking place twice within 1989. Horses trained in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 were admitted in 1990, followed by those from the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 in 1991, and Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1992. The distance was increased to its present length, 2,000 metres, in 1999. Also at this time the race was promoted to Group 1 status.

The Hong Kong Cup is one of the four Hong Kong International Races

Hong Kong International Races

Hong Kong International Races are the most prestigious horse races in Hong Kong. The event consists of 4 races which are run annually in mid-December at Sha Tin Racecourse. It is hosted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and has been sponsoring by Cathay Pacific Airways since 2004. The event is...

, and it presently offers a purse of HK$20,000,000 (approximately US$2.58 million).

Records

Speed record: (at present distance of 2,000 metres)

• 2:00.90 – Falbrav
  Falbrav
  Falbrav is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire, bred in Ireland but trained in Italy and the United Kingdom during his racing career which ran from 2000 to 2004...
  
   (2003)

Most wins:

• No horse has won this race more than once

Most wins by a jockey

Jockey

A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

:

• 3 – Frankie Dettori
  Frankie Dettori
  Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...
  
   (2000, 2003, 2007)

Most wins by a trainer

Horse trainer

In horse racing, a trainer prepares a horse for races, with responsibility for exercising it, getting it race-ready and determining which races it should enter...

:

• 2 – Saeed bin Suroor
  Saeed bin Suroor
  Saeed bin Suroor , is a horse racing trainer. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training license in 1994 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation....
  
   (2000, 2007)

Most wins by an owner:

• 2 – Godolphin Racing (2000, 2007)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Time
1988	Flying Dancer Flying Dancer Flying Dancer was a Thoroughbred racehorse who competed in Hong Kong. Sired by Ballybrit, a descendant of the British champion Polymelus, he was out of the mare Pur Sang who was from the British Hyperion line....	5	Bartie Leisher	Brian Kan Ping-chee	Lim Por-yen Lim Por-yen Lim Por-yen was a Hong Kong textiles tycoon and banker. He founded the Lai Sun Group , and his family was the biggest shareholder of Asia Television .-Biography:...	1:48.60
1989	Colonial Chief	4	Tony Cruz Anthony S. Cruz Anthony S. "Tony" Cruz is a prominent horse trainer and former Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.-Early life:Son of J. M. da Cruz, himself a well-known jockey, Tony Cruz is of Portuguese descent...	Ivan W. Allan	Promise Stable	1:49.30
1989	Grey Invader	4	Gary Stewart	Alvin Clark	E. J. Johnson et al.	1:48.00
1990	Kessem	5	Kevin Moses	Brian Smith	B. Duncan et al.	1:48.40
1991	River Verdon	4	Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trainer François Boutin and his stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardère...	David Hill	Cheung Sir Oswald Cheung Sir Oswald Victor Cheung, CBE, QC, SC, JP was an eminent barrister in Hong Kong，known as the " of the bar".-Biography:"Ossie" was the first ethnic Chinese to become a Queen's Counsel in colonial Hong Kong, and the first Chinese chairman of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club...  / Arculli Ronald Arculli Ronald Joseph Arculli, GBM, GBS, CVO, OBE, JP is chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing and Non-official Members Convenor of the Executive Council of Hong Kong . He is a Hong Kong solicitor and a founding partner of the law firm, Arculli, Fong, & Ng, which later merged with King &...	1:49.80
1992	Romanee Conti	4	Greg Childs	Laurie Laxon	Peter & Philip Vela	1:48.20
1993	Motivation Motivation (horse) Motivation was a Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1993 Hong Kong Invitational Cup. Bred by Adolfo J. Bullrich, he was sired by Egg Toss, a son of the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Buckpasser...	5	John Marshall	John Moore John Moore (horseman) John Moore is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer.The son of legendary jockey and trainer George Moore, he began working in Hong Kong racing as an assistant to his father in 1971...	Mr & Mrs Hui Sai Fun	1:49.20
1994	State Taj	5	Damien Oliver	James L. Riley	Neville Begg & Partners	1:48.40
1995	Fujiyama Kenzan	7	Masayoshi Ebina Masayoshi Ebina is a Japanese jockey. Nicknamed Ebi-Shō.He is best known for riding El Condor Pasa.That won the Japan Cup and second in Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe .In 2010 he won the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown with Apapane....	Hideyuki Mori	Tatsuya Fujimoto	1:47.00
1996	First Island	4	Michael Hills	Geoff Wragg Geoff Wragg Geoff Wragg was a Thoroughbred horse trainer who trained champion horses such as Teenoso and Jeune. He is the son of former jockey and trainer Harry Wragg, from whom he took over the licence at Abington Place, Newmarket in 1983 upon his father's retirement. Wragg retired in 2008 after 25 years of...	Mollers Racing	1:48.20
1997	Val's Prince	5	Cash Asmussen Cash Asmussen Cash Asmussen is an American thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Born Brian Keith Asmussen, in 1977 he legally changed his name to "Cash". From a Texas horse racing family, his parents, Keith and Marilyn "Sis" Asmussen, operate a ranch in Laredo, Texas...	James E. Picou	Martin / Weiner	1:47.20
1998	Midnight Bet	4	Hiroshi Kawachi	Hiroyuki Nagahama	Shadai Racehorse Co. Ltd.	1:46.90
1999	Jim and Tonic Jim And Tonic Jim And Tonic is a French Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse and the richest racehorse in the history of horse racing in France....	5	Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé Gérald Mossé is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983 and his success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trainer François Boutin and his stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardère...	François Doumen François Doumen François Doumen is a French racehorse trainer currently based at Boucé, Orne. From 1956 to 1970 he was an amateur jockey, and he then worked as an assistant trainer to his father Jean. He obtained his own training licence in 1977....	John D. Martin	2:01.40
2000	Fantastic Light Fantastic Light Fantastic Light is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire. He was foaled in the United States but was trained in England and Dubai during his racing career, which ran from August 1998 to his retirement following the Breeders' Cup Turf on October 2001...	4	Frankie Dettori Frankie Dettori Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...	Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor , is a horse racing trainer. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training license in 1994 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation....	Godolphin	2:02.20
2001	Agnes Digital	4	Hirofumi Shii	Toshiaki Shirai	Takao Watanabe	2:02.80
2002	Precision	4	Michael Kinane Michael Kinane Michael J. Kinane is a former flat racing jockey. He had a 34-year career, retiring on 8 December 2009....	David Oughton	Wu Sai Wing	2:07.10
2003	Falbrav Falbrav Falbrav is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire, bred in Ireland but trained in Italy and the United Kingdom during his racing career which ran from 2000 to 2004...	5	Frankie Dettori Frankie Dettori Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...	Luca Cumani Luca Cumani Luca M. Cumani is an Italian thoroughbred horse trainer. He has trained at Bedford House Stables in Newmarket, England since 1976...	Sc. Rencati / Yoshida	2:00.90
2004	Alexander Goldrun Alexander Goldrun Alexander Goldrun is a retired Thoroughbred filly racehorse. Bred by Dermot Cantillon, she was raced by Mrs. Noel O'Callaghan for whom she compiled a race record of 10 wins, seven seconds, and six thirds in thirty-one starts...	3	Kevin Manning	Jim Bolger Jim Bolger (racehorse trainer) James S. "Jim" Bolger is an Thoroughbred racehorse trainer and breeder based in Coolcullen in County Kilkenny. For many years now he has been recognised as one of the racing greats in Ireland...	Miriam O'Callaghan	2:03.30
2005	Vengeance of Rain Vengeance of Rain Vengeance of Rain is a retired Thoroughbred racehorse in Hong Kong that won Dubai Sheema Classic , the joint richest turf race in the world. Vengeance of Rain was foaled in New Zealand, trained by David E...	4	Anthony Delpech Anthony Delpech Anthony Delpech is a Thoroughbred horse racing jockey who competes internationally.Delpech's family moved to Durban, South Africa when he was thirteen years old and it was there that he embarked on a career as a jockey...	David E. Ferraris David E. Ferraris David E. Ferraris is now a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer in Hong Kong.Born into a racing family, his father, Ormond Ferraris, was a champion trainer in South African racing. David Ferraris embarked on his own training career in 1995 and went on to win the South African trainer's title four times...	R. G. Chow Hon Man	2:04.50
2006	Pride Pride (horse) Pride is a champion French racemare who won three Group 1 races. Her biggest success was the 2006 Hong Kong Cup. She was also an unlucky second in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Her other feature wins were the Champion Stakes and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud...	6	Christophe Lemaire Christophe Lemaire Christophe Patrice Lemaire is a French-born jockey. He takes his middle name from his father, who made a name for himself in the world of French handicap racing.In 1999 he obtained the licence required for a French jockey, and began racing...	Alain de Royer-Dupré Alain de Royer-Dupré Alain de Royer-Dupré is a leading French thoroughbred racehorse trainer. He grew up at the Haras de Saint Lô, a national stud farm in Normandy of which his father was Assistant Director and later Director, responsible for government-owned stallions based at farms in the local...	NP Bloodstock Ltd	2:01.60
2007	Ramonti	5	Frankie Dettori Frankie Dettori Lanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...	Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor Saeed bin Suroor , is a horse racing trainer. Formerly a policeman, he took out his training license in 1994 and the following year was appointed as the trainer for Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation....	Godolphin	2:02.80
2008	Eagle Mountain Eagle Mountain (horse) Eagle Mountain is a racehorse, sired by seven-time group one winner Rock of Gibraltar and trained by Mike de Kock....	4	Kevin Shea	Mike de Kock	M. bin K. Al Maktoum	2:00.92
2009	Vision d'Etat Vision d'Etat Vision d'Etat is a French Thoroughbred racehorse. Sired by Group One winner Chichicastenango and out of the mare Uberaba, he was bought for €39,000 by Jacques Detre and trainer Eric Libaud's wife, Vicky....	4	Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier is a thoroughbred horse racing jockey.Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races....	Eric Libaud	Detré / Libaud	2:01.86
2010	Snow Fairy Snow Fairy Snow Fairy is a Thoroughbred racehorse trained by Ed Dunlop. She won four Group 1 races in 2010, including the Epsom Oaks, Irish Oaks, Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup and Hong Kong Cup.- references :**...	3	Ryan Moore	Ed Dunlop	Anamoine Limited	2:02.94

The "1992" race actually took place in April 1993 – it had been postponed in December due to an equine virus.