The 2010 Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship features 12 invited riders from around the world, competing in 4 designated races over the 7 furlong right-handed turf course of Happy Valley Racecourse on Hong Kong Island. Mounts are randomly assigned and the races are run as handicaps. Jockeys are awarded 12 points for a win, 6 for second and 4 for third.
Ryan Moore won the first and last races of the contest, giving him 24 points to win the competition and the HK$200,000 (US$25,750) first place check.


Local jockey Douglas Whyte was second with 18 points, followed by Australia's Nash Rawiller's 12 points, while celebrating his 36th birthday on his first visit to Happy Valley. The lone North American participant, Julien Leparoux, finished in a 4-way dead heat for last scoring no points, having drawn wide posts and longshots in most of his races, a disadvantage on the tight oval. His best finish was 5th in the third leg.

In the first leg, Moore aboard 5-2 shot Something Special, raced in midpack the whole way in the 1650 meter (about 1 mile) race, came out at the 1/4 pole to pass tiring horses to get the win by 3/4 lengths over Jolly Wongchoy and French jockey Olivier Peslier. Local rider Brett Prebble aboard Medic Fortune finished third. In the second leg, Rawiller, riding 10-1 Record High, went right to the lead, saved ground on the rail the whole way in the 1650 meter event, easily holding off Christophe Lemaire aboard High Luck by 1 1/4 lengths, with Whatabob and jockey Hiroyuke Uchida third.

In the third leg, Whyte aboard 23-1 My Goal stalked the pace and hugged the rail in the 1650 meter race, then came through on the inside late to win by a neck over Prebble aboard Nordic Star. It was another 1/2 length back to John Murtagh aboard pacesetter Good Luck Win in third. In the fourth and final leg, Moore finally clinched the title aboard 23-1 Fearless. Moore sat well off the pace early, came out wide into the stretch and closed with a rush to win the 1800 meter (about 1 1/8 mile) race by 3/4 length over Ho Wongchoy and Douglas Whyte, with Uchida's mount Amityship another 1/4 length back in third.

Moore, who also won the World Super Jockeys Series in Japan in November, said, "It is really nice to win this event, on my very own this time. Especially good as I didn't think I held much chance coming into it. I went out pretty confident with the first winner Something Special because Tony told me the horse was in good form and how to ride him. He had a good draw and picked up well for me in the straight."

Later he added, "To be honest, I didn't hold out too much hope of winning the last race beforehand on form, but Fearless went to post feeling really good in himself, then he traveled well and when he picked off one at the top of the straight, he really wanted to get past the rest of them. It's a really nice buzz to ride winners anytime, but to do it in these big, prestigious competitions, it adds more to it because you need a lot of things to fall your way and a good bit of luck to get a result. This is a nice warm up for the big (International) races at Sha Tin on Sunday, which is the last big meeting of the season for me. I have some excellent rides in all four races, on Paco Boy, Snow Fairy, Crystal Capella and Kingsgate Native, not necessarily in that order!"