In a continued commitment to investing in the Club’s incentive structure to reward Hong Kong’s Owners, the Club will boost PP Bonuses for Class 2 and Class 3 horses from HK$1 million to HK$1.5 million for the 2023/24 season.

The stunning increase builds on the success of the new PP Bonus scheme introduced this season which has seen 38 individual horses  so far claim HK$1 million bonuses  for winning a Class 3 race or higher when rated 60 or higher before reaching five years of age – in addition to significant prize money. A horse winning a Class 3 race of a distance 1600 or more currently earns a total of prize money plus bonus $2.083 million.

Three of those horses – Adios, Mr Ascendency and Red Lion – also earned an additional PP Bonus of HK$1 million by following their initial wins with further success at Class 2 or higher when rated 80 or higher, taking the number of PP Bonuses won this season to 41.

Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Chief Executive Officer of The Hong Kong Jockey Club, underscored the importance of the PP Bonus incentives: “Hong Kong Racing is firmly established as world leading and the Club is committed to continuously improving the quality of our horse population so as to further enhance our positioning on the global stage.  “To this end, we are committed to further strengthening incentives to Owners who we recognise are facing increasing competition to source high-class horses.

“We see the HK$500,000 increase in the PP Bonus structure for Class 2 and Class 3 as important to further enhancing the value proposition for Owners making investment in high-quality horses to enable Hong Kong to further develop the quality of our racing and our international standing.”

The PP Bonus boost for the 2023/24 season follows a comprehensive review of the Club’s prize money and incentive structure following the record 11.5% single season increase applied for this season.

The 2023/24 season prize money structure will be announced by the Club in coming days.

In addition to the record prize money on offer this season, the Club has this season rewarded Owners with a total of HK$51 million in individual bonuses through three different bonus types – 41 PP Bonuses, nine PPG (Privately Purchased Griffins) bonuses and one ISG (International Sale Griffins) bonus.

Next season, PPGs will continue to earn a HK$1 million bonus for a first win in Class 2 or above when rated 80 or higher before reaching the age of five.

ISGs – horses bought out of the Hong Kong International Sale – will continue to earn a HK$1 million bonus if successful in a Class 3 contest when rated 60 or higher before the end of their first full season.

“The strength of the PP Bonus system this season has been illustrated by the achievements of several horses, including Keefy, Straight Arron and recent Happy Valley winner Encountered who collected HK $2.65 million, including the HK$1 million Bonus, for his first Class 2 victory.

Magniac, a three-year-old in his first season of Hong Kong racing, became the latest horse to join the PP Bonus Honour Roll when earning HK$1.98 million, including the HK$1 million bonus, with his win at Happy Valley on Wednesday (19 April).

As a result of this significant enhancement of the PP Bonus scheme for 2023/24, the Club has also approved an extension of the closing date for the 2023 Horse Ballot from 5pm Thursday, 27 April by two weeks to 5pm Thursday, 11 May.” Mr Andrew Harding, Executive Director, Racing at The Hong Kong Jockey Club, said.