You had to be there. And if you weren’t, well, you should have been.

Longines Hong Kong International Jockey Championship at the spectacular Happy Valley Racecourse last night had lights, camera, action, and what really was a celebration of horse racing.

It really was the visual for that hit from a long way back by Kool And The Gang.

There was something for everyone- and more.

For Team Hong Kong, the night saw wins by Douglas Whyte, Keith Yeung and a brilliant double by Aussie Zac Purton that included his first winner for Tony Cruz on Majestic Anthem- his first ride for the trainer which only happened through the luck of the draw: A chance ride in one of the legs of the four designated races of the International Jockeys Championship.

Who won? On the Happy Valley turf, it was Kerrin McEvoy from Australia who summed up the leader’s bias of the track brilliantly and, simply, burnt off his opposition.

We could go through every race and go through every ride, but that would be boring and missing the point.

The key point was that the real winners were those on course- a crowd as International- or even more International- as twelve of the best jockeys in the world competing in this International Championship.

While watching all the nationalities in the Ben Semmens Band that rocked the Beer Garden, one realized how this was one huge melting pot of lights, camera, action and a great celebration of, not just horse racing, but human kind, which our friend Peo from Sweden captured for us in the photos below.

After all, you know what they say about the worth of one picture.