Sunday, 29 April 2012, Sha Tin Racecourse

Each spring Sha Tin Racecourse becomes a glittering venue thanks to the sponsorship of Audemars Piguet. The Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup (AP QE II Cup), has been one of Hong Kong’s major sporting events since the celebrated watchmaker took over sponsorship in 1999, and since then the sponsors have constantly found new ways of adding lustre to what is already a luminous event. After repeated rises in prize money and the race’s elevation in 2001 to international G1 status, in 2011 for the thirteenth renewal of the APQEII Cup they introduced a glamorous new image with a brand new Silver and Black event logo.

The AP QE II Cup is traditionally an important target for many overseas connections. An international Group 1 race run over the classic distance of 2000m, it now carries a purse of HK$14 million or US$1.8 million. The Hong Kong Jockey Club has also created an extra bonus of HK$1 million for the owner of any horse which wins one of the four Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races in the December of the preceding year and then goes on to victory in what has become Asia’s international spring championship.

Back in 1974, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup was established to commemorate a visit to Hong Kong by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, and the race continued to be run annually each spring. It evolved into an international event in 1995, with Hong Kong horses competing against those representing Australia, France, Japan, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

Sunday 1 May 2011