Queen Elizabeth II Cup

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is run annually in April at a distance of 2,000 metres (ten furlongs) on turf. Prior to 1997 it was run at 2,200 metres (eleven furlongs). Sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet since 1999, it currently offers a purse of HK$20 million (US$2.6 million)since 2014/15.

This article is about the Hong Kong horse race. For other uses, see Elizabeth Cup (disambiguation).

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup was first run at the Happy Valley Racecourse in Happy Valley, Hong Kong to commemorate a visit to Hong Kong by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was a local Class 1 or 2 race over a distance between 1,400 and 1,800 metres until 1995 when it opened to international entries. Since then, Hong Kong horses have been competing against those from the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Australia.[1]

Since becoming a Group One race in 2001, every winner of the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup has been a descendant of Northern Dancer. The 2006 race saw Irridescence upset the great filly and European Horse of the Year, Ouija Board.

The Queen Elizabeth II Cup has been sponsored by the Swiss haute horlogerie brand Audemars Piguet for around 17 years now, they continue to make special edition pieces (mostly based on the Royal Oak) to celebrate their sponsorship of the event. They join companies such as Omega SA, Rolex and Longines as one of the official sports event partners that provide both sponsorship and race timers.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, no overseas horses entered the race in 2020 and this international Group 1 event became a local race.

Winners since 1995
Year Winner Age Jockey Trainer Owner Time
1995 Red Bishop 7 Michael Kinane Hilal Ibrahim Ali Saeed 2:17.20
1996 Overbury 5 Frankie Dettori Saeed bin Suroor Godolphin 2:14.50
1997 London News 5 Douglas Whyte Alec Laird Laurie & Jean Jaffee 2:00.30
1998 Oriental Express 5 Douglas Whyte Ivan W. Allan Larry Yung Chi Kin 2:01.00
1999 Jim And Tonic 5 Gerald Mosse François Doumen John D. Martin 2:00.10
2000 Industrialist 4 Alan Munro Brian Kan A. Hu Si Nok & P. Wong Yau Ming 2:02.10
2001 Silvano 5 Andreas Suborics Andreas Wöhler Stiftung Gestüt Fährhof 2:03.10
2002 Eishin Preston 5 Yuichi Fukunaga Shuji Kitahashi Toyomitsu Hirai 2:02.50
2003 Eishin Preston 6 Yuichi Fukunaga Shuji Kitahashi Toyomitsu Hirai 2:03.80
2004 River Dancer 5 Glyn Schofield John Size Ronald Arculli 2:01.40
2005 Vengeance of Rain 4 Anthony Delpech David E. Ferraris Chow Nam & R. G. Chow Hon Man 2:01.80
2006 Irridescence 5 Weichong Marwing Mike de Kock Team Valor 2:02.00
2007 Viva Pataca 5 Michael Kinane John Moore Stanley Ho Hung-Sun 2:01.90
2008 Archipenko 4 Kevin Shea Mike de Kock Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum 2:00.80
2009 Presvis 5 Ryan Moore Luca Cumani Leonidas Marinopoulos 2:02.97
2010 Viva Pataca 8 Weichong Marwing John Moore Stanley Ho Hung-Sun 2:04.97
2011 Ambitious Dragon 4 Douglas Whyte A.T. Millard Lam Pui Hung 2:02.23
2012 Rulership 5 Umberto Rispoli Katsuhiko Sumii Sunday Racing Co Ltd 2:02.38
2013 Military Attack 5 Tommy Berry John Moore Mr & Mrs Steven Lo Kit Sing 2:02.15
2014 Designs on Rome 4 Tommy Berry John Moore Cheng Keung Fai 2:01.06
2015 Blazing Speed 6 Neil Callan Tony Cruz Fentons Racing Syndicate 2:02.89
2016 Werther 4 Hugh Bowman John Moore Johnson Chen 2:01.32
2017 Neorealism 6 João Moreira Noriyuki Hori U Carrot Farm 2:04.59
2018 Pakistan Star 5 William Buick Tony Cruz Kerm Din 2.00.21
2019 Win Bright 5 Masami Matsuoka Yoshihiro Hatakeyama Win Co Ltd 1:58.81
2020 Exultant 6 Zac Purton Tony Cruz Eddie Wong Ming Chak & Wong Leung Sau Hing 2:00.00

Earlier winners
  • 1975 – Nazakat
  • 1976 – Super Win
  • 1977 – Wing Take
  • 1978 – Nazakat
  • 1979 – Go-Getter
  • 1980 – Allegro
  • 1981 – Classic Boy
  • 1982 – Alex Flyer
  • 1983 – Fire Ball
  • 1984 – Yau Wai
  • 1985 – Champion Joker
  • 1986 – Powerhouse
  • 1987 – Forever Gold
  • 1988 – Top Grade
  • 1989 – Star Mark
  • 1990 – Quicken Away
  • 1991 – Galway
  • 1992 – River Verdon
  • 1993 – Muhim
  • 1994 – Deerfield

See also

References
  1. The Hong Kong Jockey Club, Introduction of Audemars Piguet QE II Cup


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