The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group 1 thoroughbred horse race held at the Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories in Hong Kong. The race was established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club to commemorate the visit to Hong Kong of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip.
It became an international event in 1985 with local horses from Hong racing against thoroughbreds from Australia, France, Japan, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Now it is one of Hong Kong’s most popular horse races and is sponsored by watchmaker Audemar Piguet since 1999.
Last year, the Tony Cruz trained Pakistan Star ridden by jockey William Buick won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. This year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup will be held on Sunday April 28, 2019 with 14 starters vying for the first prize of HK$13.68M out of the total HK$24M purse money plus trophies to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. Get our horse racing betting tips.
Here are the current favorites to win the 2019 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Antepost odds taken from Bet365 as of 4/13/19:
Horse | Odds |
---|---|
Exultant | +350 |
Deirdre | +500 |
Dark Dream | +700 |
Furore | +700 |
Waikuku | + 700 |
Lys Gracieux | +800 |
Eagle Way | +1000 |
Pakistan Star | +1200 |
Glorious Forever | +1400 |
Win Bright | + 1400 |
Southern Legend | +2000 |
Harlem | +2500 |
Time Warp | +3300 |
Eminent | +3300 |
The Favorites
5-year old Gelding Exultant has won four out of his last seven starts including the last three. Last December, Exultant won the 2400m Hong Kong Vase (G1) at Sha Tin, becoming only the third Hong Kong trained horse to do so. He opened the year with another triumph at the Centenary Vase (G3) last January 27th and then ran away with victory at the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup (G1) to cement his status as star stayer.
Deirdre is a five year old mare by Harbinger out of Reizend trained by Mitsuru Hashida stable and owned by T.Morita. She won five of her nine starts from 2017 to 2018 but has yet to finish in the Top 3 in her first two starts of 2019. She placed 4th in her most recent start at the Dubai Turf sponsored by DP World SWP (G1) last March 30, 2019 at the Meydan Racecourse in the UAE.
Dark Dream Horse is an Australian thoroughbred horse born in 2014 by All American out of Buchanan Girl trained by Hong Kong’s F C Lor stable and owned by Albert Hung Chao Hong. Dark Dream has four starts this year and has not finished lower than 4th place. In his most recent start last April 7, 2019, Dark Dream won the Harlech HCP (G1) at the Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong.
Furore won last month’s BMW Hong Kong Derby at Sha Tin Racecourse to fulfill trainer Frankie Lor’s dream to become the first “home grown” Hong Kong trainer to win the race in 11 years. Born in 2014 Furore is a New Zealand gelding by Pierro out of Stormy Choice. He is trained by Hong Kong’s F C Lor stable and owned by Lee Sheung Chau. Furore also won the Hong Kong Classic Mile 1600m last January 27, 2019. Dark Dream finished this race in 4th place.
Waikuku was born in 2015 by Harbour Watch out of London Plane and trained by Hong Kong’s John Size. He was 7th in the Harlech HCP (G1) at Sha Tin, a race won by Dark Dream. Before that, Waikuku finished behind Furore at last month’s BMW Hong Kong Derby, also at Sha Tin and was a winner at the Lion City HCP.
Who Wins?
With his victory in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, Exultant not only cemented his status as a prime stayer but also his billing as Hong Kong’s #2 horse behind Beauty Generation. The difference between Exultant this season and the previous ones lies mainly in the fact that he is able to relax much better during races. That has happened since top jockey Zach Purton has helped him do that. The new combination has put together three straight wins starting with last December’s Hong Kong Vase and I think the winning continues here in the QEII Cup. Prediction: Exultant