In England it’s long been the Derby, Australia has the Golden Slipper, France the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, North America looks to the Kentucky Derby, and you can throw in a couple of Breeders’ Cup races too alongside all those other senior European Classics

Frankie Lor’s achievements in little more than two seasons as a trainer should not be undersold. 

One Group 1 win on Sunday will see Zac Purton become the outright most successful rider in the history of the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.

Lucky Lilac will make her overseas debut in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase on Sunday as one of an impressive nine-strong raiding party from Japan. 

Joao Moreira hopes loyalty will yield the pay-off of his first LONGINES HKIR victory in three years.

In the recent annals of the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint there have been few foreign challengers that have been able to seriously trouble the local flyers around one turn of Sha Tin’s 1200-metre course. 

Win Bright is looking to uphold an unblemished record over 2000m at Sha Tin with a win in Sunday’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) after his record-setting success in the G1 FWD QEII Cup at the course and distance earlier this year.

Even some of the incredibly well-travelled fillies and mares who have visited the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races over the years are comparative hermits when considering the odyssey of G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) contender Magic Wand.

Aspetar's rider in Sunday's G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) will be a 19-year-old who says “I can't believe the position I'm in.”

In the weeks leading up to the 2019 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, Silk Racing had three horses in three different races, all with a decent shot to take home the prize. By far, Almond Eye was getting the most attention out of the three.

Three champion trainer titles; a raft of major race winners at home and in Singapore and a surname synonymous with Hong Kong racing only scratches the surface of the story of Caspar Fownes. 

William Haggas believes you need a fresh horse to compete in horse racing’s international winter prizes and in “reformed character” Young Rascal he has just that.

“Let the show begin!” John Moore said after Beauty Generation worked through his final fast gallop on Thursday morning before Sunday’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m).

Karis Teetan secured his first LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday, seeing off Ryan Moore thanks to a hugely consistent night across the four race-spectacular. 

John Size has been Hong Kong champion trainer 11 times and already wears the mantle of an ‘all-time great’ and among his 1,222 Hong Kong career wins two have come in the toughest arena of all, the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races.

Mr Stunning has never held the official title of Hong Kong’s champion sprinter, yet when December rolls around he is a champion in every sense of the word. And if successful in Sunday’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), he will have scaled a peak that no other horse before him has reached. 

Tony Cruz believes Exultant could prove to be the best stayer Hong Kong has ever produced. That may be so, but the three-time G1 winner will have to win a second LONGINES Hong Kong Vase on Sunday just to stake a claim for overall top status on the current scene.

There are certain trainers that have acquired a real knack of travelling their horses for the biggest international events, while others are renowned as kings or queens of their home turf.

Hong Kong’s latest sprint sensation Aethero was perhaps destined to be a giant - in every sense - of the racetrack even before his race debut at Sha Tin in April this year. 

Charlie Fellowes has a charm and approachability that is probably nudging Group 1 class but talking to Prince Of Arran's trainer one continually gets the impression of restless ambition and his comments regarding Sunday’s G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase (2400m) start to illustrate this.

Mister Monte carried off Sha Tin's second trophy race on Sunday, the Class 4 Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Cup Handicap (1800m, dirt).