Horse of the Year is the most prestigious honor in Thoroughbred horse racing given by racing organizations in a variety of countries around the world.
In Hong Kong, the voting for Horse of the Year is organized by the Hong Kong Jockey Club as part of its annual Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards. The Judging Panel consists of six members from the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Association of Hong Kong Racing Journalists. Past winners of the award include:
The Happy Valley Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing and is a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. It is located in Happy Valley on Hong Kong Island, surrounded by Wong Nai Chung Road and Morrison Hill Road. The capacity of the venue is 55,000.
Silent Witness was an outstanding Thoroughbred racehorse who won his first 17 starts in sprint races in Hong Kong. He was ranked the world's top sprinter for three seasons.
Cape of Good Hope (GB) (好望角, foaled 1998) is a British thoroughbred racehorse based in Hong Kong. Sired by Inchinor to dam Cape Merino, the chestnut gelding was trained by David Oughton. Despite being overshadowed by champion sprinter Silent Witness in Hong Kong, Cape of Good Hope had some success on international stages.
Christophe Soumillon is a Belgian jockey based in France.
The Hong Kong Mile is a Group 1 flat horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres at Sha Tin, and it is scheduled to take place each year in mid December.
Gérald Mossé is a jockey in thoroughbred horse racing. He began riding professionally in April 1983. His success during his apprenticeship under Patrick-Louis Biancone led to an offer to ride for renowned trainer François Boutin. His stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardère. Mossé went on to become one of his country's top jockeys, winning the 1990 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In 1991, he rode Arazi to five straight wins in France then spent 1992 and part of 1993 racing in Hong Kong.
The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is run annually in April at a distance of 2,000 metres on turf. Prior to 1997 it was run at 2,200 metres. Sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet since 1999, it currently offers a purse of HK$20 million (US$2.6 million)since 2014/15.
The Hong Kong Gold Cup is a Group One Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1979 at Sha Tin Racecourse. It is open to horses three years of age and older. Run on turf, it was initially run over a distance of 1,800 metres, but is now set at 2,000 metres and it offers a purse of HK$12,000,000.
The Hong Kong Derby is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1873. Restricted to horses four-years-old only since 1981, the race is run in mid-March and is the premier event on the domestic racing programme with a purse of HK$18 million. This race is the last race in the Hong Kong Four-Year-Old ClassicSeries.
Anthony Stephen da Cruz is a prominent horse trainer and former Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.
Douglas Whyte is a former horse racing jockey and is now a horse trainer. He became Hong Kong champion jockey in the 2000-2001 season and won 13 consecutive titles, a record in flat racing. In 2013-14, he relinquished that title to Zac Purton, finishing third with 88 wins to give him an accumulated total of more than 1,600 races in Hong Kong with career stake earnings of more than $HK 1.3 billion.
Zac Purton is an Australian jockey who lives in Hong Kong.
Vincent C Y Ho is a horse racing jockey. He made an impressive start to his riding career with 10 wins in his first season in 2009/10. He became Hong Kong's champion apprentice with 39 wins in 2010/11. In 2012/13 he rode 28 winners, and in 2013/14 season he has notched 22 for a HK total of 116.
Ambitious Dragon is a New Zealand-bred, Hong Kong–based Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which began in 2010 he has won eleven races at Sha Tin Racecourse including the Hong Kong Mile, Hong Kong Classic Cup, Hong Kong Derby, Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Hong Kong Stewards' Cup and the Hong Kong Gold Cup. Ambitious Dragon was voted Hong Kong Horse of the Year for the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 seasons.
Military Attack is an Irish-bred, Hong Kong trained Thoroughbred racehorse. Unraced as a two-year-old he showed promising form in Britain in 2011 before being sold to race in Hong Kong. He continued to show useful but unexceptional form before emerging as a dominant middle-distance performer in the early part of 2013, winning the January Cup, Hong Kong Gold Cup, Premier Plate, Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Singapore Airlines International Cup. In July 2013 at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Champion Awards, he won three awards including the title of Hong Kong Horse of the Year.
Able Friend is an Australian-bred, Hong Kong-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After showing some promise when winning one of his two races in his native country, the gelding was transferred to race in Hong Kong in 2013. In the 2013/2014 season he established himself as one of the best milers in Hong Kong with four wins including the Hong Kong Classic Mile and the Chairman's Trophy from seven races. In the following season his wins in the Jockey Club Mile (2014) and Hong Kong Mile saw him rated among the best racehorses in the world. By the International Ratings of 127, he was officially the highest internationally rated Hong Kong racehorse ever. He was crowned as the Hong Kong Horse of the Year in 2015.
Fairy King Prawn was an Australian-bred, Hong Kong-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. After being sold and exported to Hong Kong as a yearling he became one of the most successful and popular horses in his adopted territory. Equally adept as a sprinter or as a miler he won twelve of his twenty-six starts including the Chairman's Sprint Prize (twice) the Hong Kong Sprint, Hong Kong Stewards' Cup and Bauhinia Sprint Trophy. In 2000 he became the first Hong Kong horse to win a Grade One race abroad when he won the Yasuda Kinen in Japan. He won numerous awards including the title of Hong Kong Horse of the Year on two occasions. He was retired from racing in 2002 after undergoing surgery for serious leg injuries. After working for several years at a Hong Kong riding school he was sent into full retirement in New Zealand in 2011.
Beauty Generation is a New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for his performances in Hong Kong. He began his career as a three-year-old in Australia where he won two races and ran second in the Rosehill Guineas before being exported to Hong Kong.
Rapper Dragon, was an Australian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. When racing as a two-year-old in Australia he showed considerable promise as he won one race and finished second in both The Schweppervescence and Champagne Stakes.
Golden Sixty is a champion Australian-bred Hong Kong-trained Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Four-Year-Old Classic Series in year 2020 and was named the 2020/2021, 2021/2022, and 2022/2023 Hong Kong Horse of the Year.