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Bigger race betting pools than most punters have ever seen; more and better form data publicly available; small numbers of horses, tracks, jockeys and trainers to keep track of; tight control by international stewards; exotic bet dividends frequently in multi-millions - there are literally millions of reasons serious punters everywhere should be betting on Hong Kong horse races. Here are the facts.

"OldMike", the RacingHK stalwart who won big when 63/1 longshot Rich Unicorn got up at Sha Tin on October 30, has done it again. At the New Year's Day meeting on Sunday he unloaded on Aashiq which led all the way to win race 10, The Chinese Club Challenge Cup over 1400m, at odds of almost 21/1, holding off a late challenge from Captain Sweet.He was not the only RacingHK member to spot the overlay on Aashiq - "Singapore Sam" rang in to admit that he had "a tidy win" on it, which included the 30/1 quinella.  OldMike was happy to divulge the reasoning behind the coup: "I was having an average day until then, but I could not believe the odds on offer. Most punters believed that Captain Sweet was the horse to beat in the race, based on his win over course and distance on the day of the International Races in December.

Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges thanked the “extremely loyal fans” after a passionate crowd of 78,136 braved the biting cold and rain to enjoy an enthralling afternoon of racing, the day’s highlight being a thrilling climax to the HKG1 Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile. Despite the inclement weather, the 11-race card returned the second highest turnover in the past nine years. “Looking at the coldest Chinese New Year in 16 years, having over 78,000 of our fans coming to the races is an extremely good start to the year,” said Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges. “We were a little bit down on last year’s figure, which I think is understandable. Turnover today was HK$1.22 billion, which was also a little under last year, by 3%, but I think one has to again consider the impact of the weather - it is still the second best turnover for nine years. We think it is a very satisfactory start to the year of the ‘ice’ dragon.”

It was over a different distance on a different course more than seven weeks ago, but the result of the Group 2 Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Cup on November 20 points to Pure Champion as the one to beat in the featured January Cup over 1800m at Happy Valley tonight.   He started at 21/1 in that race but belied those odds to surge to the front at the 300m mark and fight off a determined challenge by Irian only to go down by a neck to late-comer Thumbs Up. It is history that Thumbs Up went on to take 2nd in the Hong Kong Vase over 2400m, while 3rd home Irian and 4th placed California Memory were respectively 2nd and 1st in the Hong Kong Cup over 2000m. Both of those races were international Group 1 events.  One aspect of the November 20 race that bodes well for Pure Champion's chances tonight is that nearly half the field he faces finished well behind him in that race, namely Jacobee, Packing OK, Super Pistachio, Mighty High and Super Satin. The expected pacing of tonight's race is also in Pure Champion's favour.

Winning jockey Jeff Lloyd described his shock win aboard Able One as the “biggest moment” of his career after the Hong Kong-based South African teamed with John Moore to take the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile. “It’s just great. A nine-year-old winning with a 50-year-old on his back. He might have been big odds but I’ve been riding him in his work and I knew he was going well,” Lloyd said. Able One began smartly and took the trail in second place behind Flying Blue who ran to a clear early lead. Moore’s charge rolled back the years as he took up the running at the top of the home straight and showed gallant resilience in the closing stages to repel the challenge of the Roger Charlton-trained runner-up Cityscape by a neck. It was a further short head back to the winner’s stablemate, Xtension.

Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges hailed the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races “the greatest show on turf” after the 2011 event played out before a huge crowd and produced not only a thrilling afternoon of sport but also a substantial increase in turnover. “Looking at today’s result from both a business point of view and a sporting point of view, it was an absolutely outstanding meeting,” said Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges. The four international races registered a significant increase in betting activity, with last year’s turnover of HK$385 million being eclipsed by a substantial increase that saw the 2011 figure rise to HK$443 million. Overall turnover for the 10-race card rose to HK$1,240 million. Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges said: “The turnover has reached HK$1.24 billion, which is an increase of 17% over last year. That is the highest since 1998.

Trainers and jockeys of three of Hong Kong's top chances in the CXHKIR - Ambitious Dragon in the Cup, Xtension in the Mile and Entrapment in the Sprint - could be forgiven for exchanging jubilant "high fives" after their charges each drew the "perfect" five gate at the barrier draws on Thursday. "Its a lovely gate. Perfect draw and from there I will have options." said Ambitious Dragon's jockey Douglas Whyte. I'm happy for him to settle and make use of his great turn of foot. He is one of the best horses I've ridden." Whyte will also ride Entrapment. "He's drawn the plum gate and his last run was very good. He's got to lift a touch to win it, but this draw certainly helps him."  "Xtension is my major hope on Sunday," said trainer John Moore. "He has been absolutely primed for it; his work and his races leading up to it have been very positive and for that reason, from gate 5, I think he is the horse to beat in the race (Mile)."

While RacingHK-style ratings and form are not available for the overseas contenders in the four International Group 1 races a comprehensive form analysis of all runners in those races is available via the drop-down“Premium” tab in the header bar above. Trackwork reports for most horses, with comment from trainers and jockeys, is below. Rocket Man, the Patrick Shaw-trained Singaporean sprint champion was the first of the international horses on the track on Wednesday morning as he put in a solid if unspectacular piece of work on the turf under his big-race jockey Barend Vorster. With Shaw in the stands Rocket Man worked over 800 metres, the last 400 metres in 23.1 seconds ahead of his CXHK Sprint engagement on Sunday. Also out on the turf was the Irish CXHK Sprint candidate Sole Power, who had a gallop on the turf, without being asked to do anything too energetic, putting in a final 400 metres in 29.7 seconds.

Hong Kong trainers Tony Millard and Caspar Fownes are looking forward to Wednesday night’s Cathay Pacific International Jockeys’ Championship with runners in each of the four legs and top overseas riders engaged. “Two for Ryan (Moore) and one for Frankie (Dettori), it doesn’t get much better than that. Let’s hope the trainer and the horses are up to scratch for them,” Millard said after the allocation saw the two UK-based champions draw three of the South African’s horses. “He’s been looking forward all year to the chance of teaming up again with Ryan Moore,” joked Millard of Something Special, who won for Moore at this meeting in 2010, “and I’m confident the other horses are in good shape and in suitable races too.” Millard’s other runners are Romancing Tamar, Sleep Well and Star Of Fame. Fownes said he was confident his four runners - Potential, Moon Chaser, Perfect Gear and the promising Mighty K - were all “ready to run well” and he was more than happy with his allocated jockeys, just not so pleased with the barrier draws.

Three Cathay Pacific-sponsored international Gr.2s at Sha Tin on Sunday provided the overture for the Turf World Championships on December 11, and Hong Kong’s star performers were out in force in preparation. But the day’s supposed Big Three all played false notes, although none left connections without hope of improvement for the main events to come. The greatest sensation was the overthrow of Ambitious Dragon in the Cathay Pacific Jockey Club Mile. Maxime Guyon had a nightmare run on the champion finding himself caught three or four wide throughout and perhaps closer to the lead than he would have liked. As a result, although the horse’s phenomenal acceleration took him to the lead halfway up the straight, he had nothing left with which to resist Destined For Glory who came with a storming run under Tim Clark to nail him on the line. Three-quarters of a length back in third came the John Size-trained Flying Blue.