The Champions Cup being held by the connections of Jet Dark, the winner of the big race in both 2021 and 2022. (Candiese Lenferna Photography)
By Ada van der Bent
The HKJC Champions Cup as we know it today, was originally called the Clairwood Winter Handicap. Contested over 1800m, it was the flagship race of the Clairwood Turf Club and traces its origins to 1924.
In recent years, the race has been run under several names depending on sponsorship, including periods as the Mainstay 1800 (1982 to 1994) and the Sharp Electronics Cup (1995 to 2000).
As the Clairwood Winter Handicap, it never failed to attract top-tier horses and featured on the resumes of many racing greats, arguably the most notable of which the legendary Sea Cottage, who completed the double in 1967 in yielding going under the steadier of 136 lbs (62 kg). Of his two victories, the first was the more remarkable, given that he ran down a Durban July winner in King Willow, who held an advantage of six lengths in the straight. Such was the acceleration flashed by Sea Cottage that he got up close home to win going away with nearly a length to spare.
With the demise of Clairwood racecourse, the Champions Cup moved to Hollywoodbets Greyville in 2013 when it was won by Jackson.
Sea Cottage is one of just three back-to-back winners. It took almost a half-century for the next dual winner to come, this being Futura in 2014, who returned to complete the double twelve months later. Jet Dark followed suit when he claimed both the 2021 and 2022 races. The only other horse to win the race twice was Goldwater, albeit not consecutively.
More recently, the 2024 race proved to be a vintage renewal, where the big-striding Dave The King faced nine rivals, all of whom had contested the Hollywoodbets Durban July. He treated them with disdain, surged into the lead at the top of the straight and ran on relentlessly to win with ease.
DID YOU KNOW
When Sabre won the race in 1974, he clocked 1 minute 46 seconds, which at the time was a world record over 1800m on turf. That set the benchmark for 35 years and lasted until 2009, when Ivory Trail burst on the scene late to snatch victory on the line, whilst shaving over half a second off the record to score in 1 minute 45,41 seconds.
The Cup has been won by some exceptional fillies, notably Exeter Chimes, Kings Pact and Response, while those of a more vintage include Tecla Bluff and Spook Express. When Princess Calla claimed the honours in 2023, it was her third Gr 1 victory of the season, an achievement which scooped her the ultimate accolade, that of Horse of the Year.
There has only been one deadheat in its long and storied history. In a dramatic finish to the 1958 race, Tiger Fish dead-heated with the filly Response.
The most successful trainer of the modern era is Brett Crawford, who saddled five winners in the space of just six years. Jackson set the ball rolling in 2013, followed by dual winner Futura (2014 and 2015), Sail South (2107) and finally Captain America in 2018.
