Horse racing news: Two-time IJC winner Ryan Moore in contention for December Hong Kong return
Two-time LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) winner Ryan Moore is amongst the line-up for this year’s competition and is hoping to recover in time for the event at Happy Valley Racecourse on 10 December.
Moore’s participation in this year’s edition will be subject to final confirmation given his continuing recovery from a fractured femur that has kept him on the sidelines since York’s Ebor Festival in August.
Hollie Doyle and William Buick will also represent Great Britain in a stellar line-up for the 2025 IJC in Hong Kong, with those invited also including four previous winners alongside Moore – Zac Purton, Mickael Barzalona, Joao Moreira, and Christophe Lemaire.
Buick currently ranks fourth in the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey standings, while Doyle, who has recently taken up a short-term riding licence in Hong Kong, has previously finished joint-second in two editions of the IJC in 2021 and 2024.
Joining Doyle in this year’s line-up will be renowned female rider Rachel King.
LONGINES World’s Best Jockey James McDonald, who has had another immensely successful year, adds further class to the line-up as former Hong Kong–based jockey Umberto Rispoli will represent the United States of America in this year’s event.
Prestige and glory
The LONGINES IJC is the most prestigious jockey challenge in the world and the most lucrative for the winning rider.
The four races are worth a combined HK$7.5 million (approx. £740,000) in prize money. Meanwhile, a total prize fund of HK$1 million in bonus money for the most successful riders will be split three ways, with the winner set to receive HK$600,000 (approx. £60,000) while HK$250,000 (approx. £25,000) goes to second and HK$150,000 (approx. £15,000) to third.
With Purton assured his spot as reigning Hong Kong champion jockey and a clear leader in this season’s championship, the final two berths on the 12-rider roster for the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship will go to next highest-ranked rider in the Hong Kong championship standings and Hong Kong’s leading homegrown rider at the selection cut-off date, which follows the race meeting on Wednesday 26 November.
Andrew Harding, executive director of racing at The Hong Kong Jockey Club, said: “The LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship is the world’s most coveted such competition and this year we have one of the strongest jockey line-ups in recent years, featuring James McDonald, Mickael Barzalona, Ryan Moore, and William Buick – who currently fill top four in the LONGINES World’s Best Jockey standings, and between them this year they have won a string of the world’s leading Group 1 contests.
“The line-up will be boosted, of course, by the inclusion of two-time LONGINES IJC champion Ryan Moore, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed that he recovers sufficiently to be able to participate.”
READ MORE: What are the dates for the UK’s top jumps races in the 2025/26 National Hunt season?
Top jockeys invited
McDonald, Barzalona, and Buick are each in fine form, having scored in Group 1 races held at the recent W.S. Cox Plate, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and Breeders’ Cup meetings.
Moore also enjoyed plenty of success in 2025 before missing the latter part of the European Flat racing season.
McDonald, the two-time LONGINES World’s Best Jockey Award winner (2022 & 2024), is chasing Damien Oliver’s Australian record of 129 Group 1 victories. He recently won a fourth consecutive W.S. Cox Plate atop Via Sistina to join Hugh Bowman as the only jockeys to achieve the feat.
His major achievements in 2025 also included winning all three legs of the Triple Crown in Hong Kong – The Stewards’ Cup, Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, and Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup with Voyage Bubble.
2024 LONGINES IJC champion Mickael Barzalona is also riding high in 2025, his victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Daryz instantly becoming a career highlight. He also enjoyed plenty of success this year with Calandagan, landing three prestigious Group 1 races including the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Champion Stakes.
He likewise added more Group 1 wins to his tally with Sahlan in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp earlier in September and Gezora in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf in early November.
Two-time British Champion Jockey Buick is no stranger to Hong Kong. Representing Great Britain, Buick is Godolphin’s leading rider and formed a formidable partnership with Ombudsman, winning the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes and the International Stakes.
He was also aboard the winners of both the 1000 Guineas and 2000 Guineas in Great Britain, Desert Flower and Ruling Court, respectively. Notable Speech is his latest Group 1 winner in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
Moore is a regular competitor in the LONGINES IJC, having won the event twice (2009 & 2010), and again managed to make his mark at some of this year’s major European meetings, winning seven races at the Royal Ascot meeting and three at York’s Ebor Festival before his injury.
Amongst his highlights this year are winning the Oaks Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks, and Irish Oaks aboard Aidan O’Brien’s standout three-year-old star Minnie Hauk.
‘Magic Man’ Joao Moreira is another familiar face at the LONGINES IJC. He will make his 10th appearance at this year’s event. The 2012 LONGINES IJC champion is in fine form after winning the Gran Premio Latinoamericano with Obataye last month.
His standout victories this year include winning three Group 1 races in Japan, namely the Oko Sho aboard Embroidery, the Satsuki Sho atop Museum Mile, and the Takamatsunomiya Kinen with Satono Reve.
Christophe Lemaire, who shared LONGINES IJC top honours with Johnny Murtagh and Ryan Moore in 2009, made history last month as he steered Energico to an impressive victory in the Kikuka Sho and became the first jockey in history to win the race three years in a row. Masquerade Ball brought him the latest Group 1 win in the Tenno Sho Autumn.
Purton, an eight-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey, will chase a record fourth LONGINES IJC crown, having won the event in 2017, 2020, and 2021.
He reached the 1,900-win milestone last month and currently leads this season’s Hong Kong standings with 29 wins (as of 2 November) ahead of Luke Ferraris (12) and Hugh Bowman (11).
Both Doyle and King have proven records in the LONGINES IJC: Doyle finished joint-third in her LONGINES IJC debut in 2020, then went one better in 2021, finishing joint-second behind the eventual winner Purton.
She also finished joint-second in the 2024 edition with McDonald, winning one of the legs aboard Soleil Fighter. Doyle became Britain’s most successful female jockey when she gained her 1,023rd winner at Ascot in May this year.
King made her LONGINES IJC debut in 2023 and made an immediate impact with victory aboard Oversubscribed. Overall, she ranked third behind Ho and Purton.
This year, she became the first female jockey to win a Group 1 race in Japan, claiming the February Stakes with Costa Nova.
The exciting line-up also includes Italian born rider Umberto Rispoli, who became the first jockey from Italy to win an American Triple Crown race when he partnered Journalism to win the 2025 edition of the Preakness Stakes.
Formidable Man was another Group 1 winner for him this year in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Virtual horse racing betting: A complete guide to odds, strategies and winning tips
LONGINES IJC format
The four-race competition works on a points-based system, with 12 points for a win, six points for second place, and four points for third.
Each jockey’s ranking will be determined by the total number of points earned over all four races and the LONGINES IJC champion will be the jockey with the highest accumulated points.
In the case of a dead-heat for any of the first three placings, points will be added and then divided by the number of horses involved. Substitute jockeys are eligible for points and if a countback is required, it will go back to fourth placings.
Homegrown jockeys with 2lb or 3lb claims are eligible for selection for the LONGINES IJC but there will be no claiming allowance in the four races. Apprentice jockeys do not qualify for selection.
This year’s edition will again follow the process successfully employed in recent years of allocating rides with a model designed to make the contest competitive and to reduce the likelihood of individual riders being advantaged or disadvantaged by the draw.
Each rider will be allocated four rides based on an estimated average of each horse’s chance as supplied by the Club’s Jockey Challenge odds-compiling team.
The odds-compiling team will assess the credentials of every runner in advance and, without knowing who will ride each horse, submit their final assessments once the barrier draw is made on the morning of Monday 8 December.
Additionally, the minimum riding weight for LONGINES IJC races is 118lb, and if there are more than 12 entries for a race, the Club’s Handicapping Department will use its discretion to give preference to horses who have shown reasonable recent form.
List of invited jockeys for 2025 LONGINES IJC
Mickael Barzalona – Reigning IJC Champion
LONGINES IJC winner (2024). Joint-second in 2021 IJC. Teenage winner of the Epsom Derby in 2011 and has since enhanced his reputation, riding for Andre Fabre and Godolphin. French Flat Racing Champion Jockey (2021).
Zac Purton – Hong Kong Champion Jockey
LONGINES IJC winner (2017, 2020, & 2021). Hong Kong Champion Jockey (2013/14, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, & 2024/25). Brisbane Champion Jockey (2003 – when still an apprentice). Australian Racing Hall of Fame inductee (2025).
Rachel King (Australia)
Sydney Champion Apprentice (2016/17). Third on her IJC debut in 2023. First female jockey to win a Group 1 race in Japan.
Joao Moreira (Brazil)
LONGINES IJC winner (2012). Four-time Hong Kong Champion Jockey (2014/15, 2015/16, 2016/17, & 2020/21).
Christophe Lemaire (Japan)
2009 IJC winner. Winner of 2018 JRA World All-Star Jockeys. Multiple JRA Award Best Jockey titles include seven for Races Won (2017-21, 2023, & 2024), four for Winning Average (2015, 2016, 2018, & 2024), eight for Money Earned (2016-21, 2023, & 2024), five for Most Valuable Jockey (2017-21) and two Grand Prizes (winning the JRA awards for most races won, highest winning average, and money earned all in the same year – 2018 & 2024).
Ryan Moore (Great Britain)
Two-time winner of the LONGINES IJC (2009 & 2010) and four-time winner of LONGINES World’s Best Jockey Award (2014, 2016, 2021, & 2023). British Flat Racing Champion Jockey (2006, 2008, & 2009).
Hollie Doyle (Great Britain)
Britain’s most successful female jockey. Joint-second in 2021 & 2024 IJC & joint-third in 2020.
William Buick (Great Britain)
Joint British Champion Apprentice (2008). British Flat Racing Champion Jockey (2022 & 2023).
James McDonald (New Zealand)
LONGINES World’s Best Jockey Award winner (2022 & 2024). Sydney Champion Jockey (2013/14, 2015/16, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, & 2024/25). New Zealand Champion Jockey (2008/09 & 2010/11). Second in 2011, 2021, & 2024 IJC and third in 2014.
Umberto Rispoli (United States of America)
Italian Champion Jockey (2009 & 2010). The first jockey from Italy to win an American Triple Crown race.
Leading eligible freelance jockey (Hong Kong)
As of 26 November 2025.
Highest ranked jockey (Hong Kong)
As of 26 November 2025.
Profile of 2025 LONGINES IJC Jockeys
YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN: Horse racing news: Botti freshening up Giavellotto for Hong Kong in new World Pool video series
