World Pool will host its biggest weekend composite card to date, comprising four meetings, 14 races – nine of them Group 1s – across three continents on Saturday 18 October and Sunday 19 October.

The World Pool bonanza includes the world’s highest-rated sprinter and Hong Kong Horse of the Year Ka Ying Rising’s shot at the AU$20 million (approx. £9.7m/HK$100m) Group 1 The Everest at Randwick, the richest race on turf.

One of the biggest questions of the weekend is: What price will Ka Ying Rising go off at in The Everest? Support from Hong Kong punters will ensure that he starts at likely prohibitively short odds, but that fact will create opportunities about other runners with World Pool, including Group 1 winners Joliestar, Jimmysstar, War Machine, Briasa and Lady Shenandoah.

Four other races from Randwick will be part of World Pool, including the Group 1 King Charles III Stakes, Group 3 Sydney Stakes, Silver Eagle and The Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Handicap.

In between the five races from Randwick, World Pool will also take in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup in Melbourne, where a field of 18 are set to line-up. Jamie Melham is aiming to become the first female rider to win the world’s richest mile and a half handicap on Half Yours for father-son training combination Tony and Calvin McEvoy. 

However, another father-son duo – Simon and Ed Crisford – sends out British contender Meydaan with Andrea Atzeni to take the ride. They are among four internationals in the field, with French grey Presage Nocturne, Irish raider Absurde and Japan’s Golden Snap also taking on the best locals.

World Pool Jockeys’ Championship winner to be crowned at Ascot

Following on from Australia, attention then switches to Ascot for British Champions Day, where four Group 1s will feature.

The action begins with the Two-Year-Old Conditions, a new race on the card this year, before four Group 1 contests – the British Champions Sprint Stakes, British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and Champion Stakes – and the concluding Balmoral Handicap.

This year’s Champion Stakes looks a strong renewal, with three Group 1 winners this season, Delacroix, Ombudsman and Calandagan, going head-to-head.

At Ascot, the second ever World Pool Jockeys’ Championship winner will be crowned following the action, with the winner receiving prize money of £50,000 to donate to a charity of their choice.

Oisin Murphy has a commanding lead in the championship with just six races remaining, topping the table with 151.15 points, over 54.50 clear of second-placed Kieran Shoemark (96.60) and the now Hong Kong-based Richard Kingscote (91.75).

There will also be a World Pool Moment of the Day chosen from the six races on British Champions Day, which will see the winning groom receive a cheque for £4,000 as well as entry into the World Pool Moment of the Year competition for the chance to win a VIP trip for four next year.

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