A mile to remember

More than three decades after it was first staged, the Hong Kong Mile remains one of the hottest contests on the racing calendar

Before the Hong Kong Mile became part of the Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) programme, it was known as the Hong Kong Invitation Bowl and was first run in 1991 to mark the staging of that year’s Asian Racing Conference in our city. Then a 1400m contest, the inaugural race was won by Ireland’s Additional Risk (更險) under jockey Mick Kinane.

The race’s current title and distance of 1600m were both introduced in 1999, and it was then upgraded to International Group 1 status the following year. Good Ba Ba (好爸爸) is the only horse to have won this or any other HKIR contest three times (2007 – 2009), while Australia’s Monopolize (壟斷) and local legend Beauty Generation (美麗傳承) have both won the race twice.

With a prize of HK$26 million this season, the race is currently the world’s richest G1 mile contest on turf. Be sure to catch the action at the 2021 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on Sunday, 12 December.