The Macau Guineas is the first leg of the world's youngest Triple Crown series, the Macau Triple Crown. Held annually in March, this event takes place at Taipa Racecourse.
TMacau's Taipa Racecourse hosts the Macau Guineas in the middle of March or April. The race is run over a distance of 1500m (0.93 miles) on a right-handed, turf course. It is open to top-class thoroughbreds aged four. A weight requirement of 9-0 stones/126lbs applies.
Location: Taipa Racecourse
Grade: Group 1
Race Type: Flat
The Macau Guineas was established in 1991. The Macau Triple Crown series was established in 2008, but the inaugural series featured the Director's Cup as its first leg. In 2009, the Director's Cup was replaced by the Macau Guineas, mainly in the spirit of assimilating the names of the Macau Triple Crown fixtures to those of the original English Triple Crown series. It was upgraded from a Group 2 event to a Group 1 status that same year and currently awards a prize of HK$750,000, making it one of the most sought after targets of the racing season (as of 2017).
These records reflect the athletic achievements of the competitors that have participated in the Macau Guineas over the past decade.
Since attaining a Group 1 status, the event's fastest horse is 2014's Hostwin Donatello who won in 1m: 27.0sec.
Since the establishment of the Macau Triple Crown, only three horses have managed to complete the Guineas/Derby double. These include: Sunshine Sure Win (2009), Luen Yat Forever (2010), and Imabayboy (2011).
The most successful jockey in recent history is Manoel Nunes who won on three occasions from 2009 to 2012.
Since the Macau Guineas achieved an elevated status in 2009, some of the finest moments in the history of the race have been achieved by top, Group 1 competitors (as of 2017).
The 2017 event served as one of the greatest upsets in the recent history of the event. The top three places were filled by long-odds thoroughbreds including 63/1 shot River Treasure, 45/1 shot Californiatreasure, and 16/1 Éclair Journey.
In 2010, Luen Yat Forever won the Macau Guineas. Then, he went on to also win the Macau Derby and Macau Gold Cup making him the first horse to win the Macau variation of the Triple Crown series in its brief history.
