World´s best set for Cathay Pacific International Jockeys´ Championship 2004 A champion night at Happy Valley is guaranteed on December 8 for the 7th Cathay Pacific International Jockeys´ Championship, a popular prelude to the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races on December 12. Each of the 11 star international riders invited has achieved champion status throughout the world, and past winners Frankie Dettori (1999 and 2001), Douglas Whyte (2002) and Damien Oliver (2003), as well as last year´s runner-up, Victor Espinoza, will do battle for the prestigious title once again. The jockeys taking part are as follows: JockeyRepresenting1Mirco DemuroItaly2Frankie DettoriUnited Arab Emirates3Shane DyeNew Zealand4Victor EspinozaUnited States of America5Kieren FallonGreat Britain6Damien OliverAustralia7Christophe SoumillonFrance8Jamie SpencerIreland9Andreas SuboricsGermany10Yutaka TakeJapan11Douglas WhyteHong Kong12The leading local rider as at December 5, excluding 10lb claimers. 'The Cathay Pacific International Jockeys´ Championship is an exciting and special night both for the racing fans and the jockeys. It is an event of great quality and prestige and all this year´s participants were very keen to accept. We are very much looking forward to the occasion,' said Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the Hong Kong Jockey Club´s Executive Director of Racing. The jockeys are randomly allocated their mounts in a draw and the winner will be the one accumulating the most points during three races. Points scoring works as follows: for each of the three races 12 points are awarded to the winning jockey; six points to the first runner-up, four points to the second runner-up; three points to the fourth and two points to the fifth. The champion is the jockey with the highest total points. His reward will be HK$200,000 with 100,000 going to second place. In the event of a tie, the jockey who has the most number of higher point-earning places receives the prize.
