World-Beating Horses

Hong Kong has just 1,200 racehorses in training, or less than one per cent of the global total. Despite this, and despite Hong Kong having no breeding industry, Hong Kong has some of the world’s best racehorses.

In 2023, a total of 14 Hong Kong horses featured in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. For the first time ever, four were in the top 15, with Golden Sixty leading the way at joint sixth.

Hong Kong has trained many famous horses over the years, including the legendary Silent Witness, whose 17 straight wins made him the world’s top sprinter in 2004 and 2005. Following in his footsteps Sacred Kingdom was the world’s top turf sprinter between 2007 and 2009, and Vengeance of Rain was the winner of the World Racing Championships Series in 2005.

Hong Kong horses have also tasted success overseas. Following Fairy King Prawn’s breakthrough victory in the 2000 Yasuda Kinen in Japan, 31 Hong Kong horses have won 40 overseas races, including 20 at the Group 1 level. In 2023, these included a first ever victory in Australia’s W.S. Cox Plate, won by Romantic Warrior, who went on to win the 2024 Yasuda Kinen – Hong Kong’s third victory in the race.