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2025 Longines Hong Kong International Races
Workout Photos

Thursday morning at Sha Tin Racecourse.

The Longines Hong Kong International Races will be run this Sunday afternoon (Saturday night in North America) at Sha Tin Racecourse. As usual, horses from Europe, Asia, and Australia ship in for the four Group 1 races, billed as the Turf World Championships, with the HK$40 million (US$5.14 million) Hong Kong Cup the highlight of the afternoon, contested at 2000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles). Conditions were excellent during training hours Thursday, with sunny skies and a daytime high of 27.5 C (81.5 F).

• 2025 Longines International Jockeys' Championship - Irish jockey Ryan Moore was the winner
• Entries for the 2025 Longines Hong Kong International Races
• 2025 Workout photos from Wednesday - includes 16 of the horses for the four big races
• Free 2025 Form Guide - past performances for all four races in PDF format
• Results for the 2023 Longines Hong Kong International Races

Here is a selection of photos from Thursday. Click the small photo to see a larger version.

The Lion in Winter (Mile) worked 6f on the turf in 1:19.3 (splits 26.8, 25.3, and 24.3) under exercise rider Rachel Richardson in company with stablemate Los Angeles (Vase). Trainer Aidan O'Brien's stable representative Pat Keating, said: "They just had a steady canter for a mile. We just wanted them to have a look at the turf. All good."

A panoramic view of the Sha Tin grandstand.

Trainer Joseph O'Brien gets interviewed on Thursday morning about his two entrants, Galen in the Cup and Al Riffa in the Vase. Galen drew the outside 7 post and is expected to set the pace. O'Brien said, "He doesn't have to set the pace, but he's a pretty enthusiastic runner; he led most of the way in Bahrain. There might be a little bit of pace pressure from some of the horses but he's in the outside gates and he can go either way. Obviously Romantic Warrior is one of the best horses of his generation, if not the best, and it's a privilege to be racing against him, but we focus on our own horse's preparation and we ride to maximize his potential. We won't worry about our competition too much." Al Riffa drew post 2. O'Brien added, "This was an obvious place to potentially come after the Melbourne Cup. He didn't have a hard race and came home really good from it, so we were happy to lock it in. He's a seasoned traveller, in actual fact he enjoys it. He's shipped out here well and we're hoping for a good run. At the end of the day our job as the trainer is to maximize the earnings of the horses and put them in the best spots that we can find them, wherever that might be in the world."

Jockey Zac Purton gets interviews in the winner's enclosure. He rides defending Sprint champion Ya King Rising, who will break from the rail for the first time in his career. Purton said, "I'm not thinking it is going to be a slowly-run race, but I don't think a track record is going to be seen, but as long we win the race and tick it off and move on to the next one.He loves fast-run races and he put them away. It was great to see and he has trained on well since, and I'm really looking forward to Sunday. He loves high-pressure races. He doesn't like it when they go slow. And when they do go slow, it allows a lot of those other horses to be in touch with and sprint with him. Whereas, when he is out there running along, it breaks their hearts. He is a unique horse in the way he can absorb pressure in such an easy way. A lot of other horses are just struggling to keep up with just that pace in the mid-stages and they can't find anything off that and are gassed trying to keep up."

Looking up the 430 meter (1,410 foot) long stretch at Sha Tin Racecourse. Races are run clockwise over the 1 3/16 mile course. Inside the turf course is a 7 1/2 furlong dirt track.

Photographer Steve Queen in the winner's enclosure. Along with his annual trips to Hong Kong, Queen has covered racing in such locales as Dubai, Japan, Australia, Singapore, England, Ireland, and France.

All the jockeys for the International Jockeys' Championship are presented on Wednesday morning at Sha Tin. Eventual winner Ryan Moore is 5th from the left.