It’s been four years since Hong Kong’s Karis Teetan won the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) and he can’t wait to have another crack at winning the title at Wednesday’s Happy Valley meeting.
Teetan will again tackle the world’s best jockeys in the lucrative series where riders accumulate points over four races in a bid to win the prestigious title and generous prizemoney.
The riders were allocated horses through an electronic process at Monday’s draw and Teetan was happy with the four horses he drew.
“It’s an interesting event to be part of and I am grateful to get the opportunity again this year,” Teetan said.
“I won it in 2019 and I am looking forward to coming back to compete again and it will be a great event, I think, and there are a lot of good jockeys and competitive fields.”
The task of winning the races is difficult because Teetan said the riders were competing against the best in the world and the rivalry and sense of occasion can lift the jockeys to another level.
He said the races are run differently to a normal meeting but everyone would be determined to give it their best to pick up as many points as possible.
“It’s a big award but as I said it takes you to be on your A-game to win a championship like this,” Teetan said.
“It’s just so competitive and of course it’s like having 10 Red Bull cars in the F1 racing together and everyone is trying to give their best to win this challenge. And, of course, the Club puts on such a great event and you want to be part of it and give it your best.”
And while Teetan said it’s always great to see and chat to so many of the world’s top jockeys, it was a case of everyone for themselves when the barriers bounce open.
“So you don’t give an inch and it’s a different vibe and it’s not your normal race meeting, that’s for sure,” he said.
Teetan said he’d done okay with his allocation of horses and he had some chances and would sit down and analyse his mounts and hopefully would get enough points to return to the podium.
In the first leg of the Championship, Teetan will ride Super Commander in race four; he has Snowalot in race five; Sixth Generation in race seven and Lightning Bolt in the final leg, in race eight.
He has ridden Super Commander in two of his last three starts and rates the gelding a chance in the 1000m sprint. He said Snowalot, ridden by Zac Purton in his past three starts, had been running well.
“I have been trying to ride him this season but Zac keeps taking the ride, so at least now I get to ride him,” Teetan said.
He will complete his rides in the Championship on Sixth Generation and Lighting Bolt, two horses he said should race well.
And he is hoping that any successes at Happy Valley will spill into the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races at Sha Tin on Sunday (10 December).
Teetan will ride durable gelding Duke Wai for trainer Pierre Ng in the HK$26 million G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint (1200m).
“It is very hard to get rides in these big races this year but I am really happy to be able to pick up this ride on a horse that has been really tough,” he said.
“I believe his first run this season was really good where he was a little bit unlucky when he got held-up and last time he just travelled too hard.”
Teetan, who had success with Duke Wai early in the gelding’s career, is looking forward to being reunited with the eight-year-old and is hoping to draw a barrier in the first five of the 10-horse field. - Hong Kong Jockey Club