Hong Kong's top jockeys out of their comfort zone at showjumping event

Four of Hong Kong’s top jockeys were taken well and truly out of their comfort zone in a special showjumping event dubbed the “Race of the Riders” in front of a sell-out crowd on night one of the Longines Hong Kong Masters at Asia World-Expo.

A team format competition, held to mark the 130th anniversary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, saw jockeys Neil Callan, Joao Moreira, Matthew Chadwick and Vincent Ho Chak-yiu race against each other in an against-the-clock challenge, where each rider was paired with a world-ranked showjumping star.

However, things did not go quite to plan for Irish jockey Callan, who was eliminated from the competition when his horse refused to jump the first two obstacles and was disqualified.

Even though jockeys’ championship leader Moreira logged the fastest time of the three jockeys to complete the course of modified obstacles, it was the Hong Kong-born and raised Ho who lifted the trophy, after a blistering final round by his French teammate Kevin Staut.

The Hong Kong Masters continues on Saturday night with the Gucci Gold Cup and culminates on Sunday when 12 world-class showjumping riders compete for a US$700,000 prize in the Longines Grand Prix.