Ryan Moore will defend his LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship title at Happy Valley on December 9 against a nine-strong international contingent that includes three other former winners and the Longines World's Best Jockey.
James McDonald, Joao Moreira, Christophe Lemaire, Saffie Osborne, Dylan Browne McMonagle, William Buick, Rachel King and Mickael Barzalona join Moore in the four-race series, with HK$600,000 to the rider who scores the most points.
Zac Purton is assured of a place in the IJC courtesy of his ninth Jockeys' Championship last season and he will be joined by the next highest-ranked rider in the current standings along with the leading homegrown jockey. This year there is a high probability that both spots will be filled by local riders.
Standings after the Happy Valley meeting on November 25 will decide the last two places, and three local riders are in the race. Vincent Ho and Jerry Chau are tied on 12 wins, two clear of Derek Leung. Apprentice Nichola Yuen currently sits second in the championship on 13 wins but is ineligible for the IJC – riders who are still indentured to a trainer and receive a weight allowance cannot participate.
Ho became the first homegrown rider to win the IJC in 2023 and edged out Chau for the local rider's place last year. Chau pulled ahead by the end of last season to win his first Tony Cruz Award and is chasing his first appearance.
Moore won last year's title with 24 points, riding Corleone and Triumphant More to victory on his return from a broken leg. It was his first IJC win since 2010 and his third overall, drawing him level with Purton, Douglas Whyte and Frankie Dettori for the most titles. His Hong Kong record also includes wins in all four features of the Hong Kong International Races.
McDonald, named Longines World's Best Jockey for the third time in four years in 2025, is still chasing a first IJC title after sharing second place with Hollie Doyle in 2024. The New Zealander rode Romantic Warrior to 14 of his 15 Group 1 wins, including four Hong Kong Cups, before the champion's retirement in September.
Barzalona won the 2024 edition with 30 points and has kept up the best run of his career since. After winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, the Champion Stakes and the Japan Cup on Calandagan and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Daryz in 2025, the Frenchman won the International Jockeys' Challenge in Riyadh with 30 points in February and the Dubai Sheema Classic on Calandagan in March.
He then rode Daryz to a second Arc this month, the first colt to win the race in consecutive years since Alleged in 1977 and 1978. Barzalona sits fourth in the Longines World's Best Jockey rankings on 106 points, behind Moore (152) and McDonald (150).
Moreira returns for his 11th IJC having won the event in 2012 while representing Singapore. His Hong Kong career brought four championships – including 170 winners in the 2016/17 season alone – and last season he played a pivotal role in Caspar Fownes' push for a fifth championship as the trainer's retained rider late in the campaign.
Lemaire shared the 2009 title with Moore and Johnny Murtagh. The Japan-based Frenchman returns as the eight-time JRA leading jockey, chasing a ninth title and a fourth in a row.
Buick shared second with Hugh Bowman last year after winning the opening leg on Bunta Baby, his first winner at Happy Valley. The two-time British champion also won the 2024 Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin on Rebel's Romance.
King, who finished third in the IJC in 2023 and returns for a fourth consecutive year, became the first woman to win a JRA Grade 1 race on the flat when she took the 2025 February Stakes on Costa Nova.
Osborne will be midway through her first Hong Kong stint, which runs from November 8 to December 23. The 24-year-old became the first female jockey to ride a British Classic winner when Highwayman won the St Leger in September, a month after she captained Great Britain and Ireland to victory over Team Hong Kong in the Shergar Cup.
Browne McMonagle, the 2025 Irish champion, rode 10 winners in Hong Kong last season and returns for a four-month stint from November 22. The 23-year-old won the Oaks at Epsom and the Irish Oaks this year for Joseph O'Brien.
The Jockey Club allocates the rides on December 7, two days before the championship, ahead of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on December 13.
This article first appeared in Idol Horse as "Hong Kong: Moore, McDonald & Moreira headline star IJC line-up".
