Nothing to separate Marquand and De Sousa in international jockeys' championship

Tom Marquand and Silvestre de Sousa shared the spoils at the end of the Longines International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday.

Each of the four legs at Happy Valley went to different riders, with Marquand, De Sousa, Vincent Ho and Derek Leung tied on 12 points. The joint-champions shared the HK$700,000 prize after a countback.

"To finish joint-top with Silvestre is pretty epic," said Marquand, who was joint runner-up last year behind Zac Purton. "He was champion jockey back at home, works so hard and is someone we look up to."

De Sousa, who won the final leg aboard Adios for Frankie Lor in the final leg, secured the championship in 2018 and added: "I never say die and I was just thrilled to win for Frankie because he's supported me here since day one. I thought Adios would be my best chance.

"It's my second time winning and I finished placed another time. In the last leg, I just felt the crowd and although it was a long half furlong, thank God he got his head down. We gave it everything."

Marquand got on the board when successful on Winning Dragon. Ho opened the scoring with a clear-cut success on Handsome Rebel for Jamie Richards, while Leung, confirmed as a late substitution for Mickael Barzalona, landed the second leg aboard Win Win Fighter.

Lor secured the HK$200,000 bonus as leading trainer across the four legs, edging out Tony Cruz and Francis Lui thanks to Adios’ win, and Leung and Ho shared the HK$100,000 prize after finishing in third.

Their rivals included Ryan Moore and Hollie Doyle, who scored with Spirited Express in the 1m1f handicap – one of five races on the nine-race card not included in the international jockeys' championship.

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