Asian Mile Challenge poised to add races in Australia, Dubai

Plans are in motion to transform the Asian Mile Challenge into a four-country series in 2006 with races in Australia and Dubai to be added.

Racing clubs in Sydney and Melbourne are vying to be a part of the expanded series, but it is expected that the Futurity Stakes, a Gr.1 event at Caulfield in Melbourne early next March, will get the nod from organisers attending the 30th Asian Racing Conference in Seoul.

Previously contested over 1400m, the Futurity Stakes will be upped in distance to a mile to accommodate its proposed new status.

The Dubai Duty Free (Gr.1-1777m) at Nad Al Sheba at the end of March will bolster the new initiative begun this season between Japan and Hong Kong where the Champions Mile at Sha Tin and the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo are supported by a US$1 million bonus to the winner of both races.

Conference delegates were due to meet late afternoon today to iron out details concerning a revised bonus and race conditions.

At today´s operational session chaired by Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club´s Executive Director of Racing, delegates learned of 'strong support' for an expanded series.

'The new races are top class and would very much suit the profile of the current Asian Mile Challenge under the banner of the Asian Racing Federation,' said Mr Engelbrecht-Bresges at the session entitled Racing as a Global Competition.

On the similar theme, the Global Sprint Challenge, currently led by Cape Of Good Hope from Hong Kong, is another international racing series seeking to enhance its profile. Mr Stephen Allanson, Director of Racing Operations at Racing Victoria Ltd, said sponsorship is being sought to fund a bonus for the series winner and thereby entice greater competition.

Mr Ciaran Kennelly, Senior Handicapper and Head of Race Planning at the Hong Kong Jockey Club, also addressed the large audience on the subject of World Racehorse Rankings, while International Cataloguing Standards were discussed in detail by, among others, Mr Louis Romanet, the Chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.