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Mickael Barzalona joined an illustrious roll of honour when lifting the LONGINES International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
Two victories in the four-race challenge ensured Mickael Barzalona became the third French rider to lift the trophy, following in the footsteps of Christophe Lemaire (2009) and Olivier Peslier (1998 & 2006).
The series couldn't have begun any better for the Belgian-born star as he expertly guided the top-weight Sergeant Pepper to a last-gasp triumph in the opening leg, snatching the maximum 12 points away from William Buick.
It looked as though Barzalona was going to grab the competition by the scruff of the neck when Forever Glorious kicked for home just half an hour later on the card, but a well-timed challenge from James McDonald, who will be crowned the LONGINES World's Best Jockey for a second time here on Friday night, on the Douglas Whyte-trained Prince Alex would see Barzalona on the opposite side of the photo-finish on this occasion.
Neither Barzalona nor McDonald were able to add to their tally in leg three, as England's poster-girl Hollie Doyle launched her hat into the ring by driving Soleil Fighter to victory in yet another tight finish.
Four jockeys remained in contention as the competition reached it's final leg, but Barzalona was in no mood for being passed under the lights at Happy Valley and ensured he was going to claim the lion's share of the HK$1 million prize fund when caressing the Pierre Ng-trained Aurora Lady to a comfortable one-and-three-quarter length triumph.
Reflecting on his excellent start to the competition, Barzalona said: "It was very important to get points on the board quickly and I also felt I'd scored well with horses that were perhaps not among my better chances of the evening. It just all unfolded perfectly."
Although Aurora Lady had plenty of form in the book to suggest she could be competitive in the finale, Barzalona was handed a tricky task in negotiating stall twelve.
"Pierre was quite confident in Aurora Lady's chances after he disappointed at Sha Tin last time when things didn't work out," said Barzalona after steering the 6/1 winner to victory. "He's been unlucky a couple of times recently and given we were drawn wide he told me to try and get forward as long as they didn't go mad early on. I trusted my horse and he didn't let me down."
Barzalona will remain in Hong Kong to partner Marquisat in the HK$24 million G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin on Sunday.
On the accomplishment of joining his illustrious compatriots Peslier and Lemaire on the LONGINES IJC honours board, Barzalona said: "It's a hyper-competitive jockeys challenge and when you see the major names up there on the roll of honour, I'm delighted to have mine alongside."
McDonald and Doyle shared second place overall, with neither able to add to their 12-point wins, while multiple Irish champion jockey Keane and Vincent Ho were the only other jockeys to register two scoring efforts.
Pierre Ng claimed the HK$300,000 bonus for leading trainer.
