Hong Kong’s champion apprentice jockey of last season, Kei Chiong Ka-kei, has added another award to her resume after claiming the People’s Choice category at the inaugural Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum “Horse Racing Excellence Awards” in Dubai on Thursday night.

The racing awards categories were won by a horse (Highland Reel), trainer (Aidan O’Brien), jockey (Christophe Soumillon) and owner (Godolphin) who took part in the previous year’s Dubai World Cup meeting. And Prince Khalid bin Abdullah al-Saud, principal of Juddmonte Farms and owner of Frankel, among many other champions, also won a lifetime achievement award.

The People’s Choice award was chosen by votes on Facebook for “the most compelling moment in racing to have taken place between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2016, in any country represented by a runner in the 2016 Dubai World Cup”.

Chiong won the award as she “set the standard for female jockeys across the world by winning an unprecedented four races in one day in arguably the world’s toughest riding environment – Hong Kong”.

She received the winning votes ahead of jockey Victor Espinoza for his winning World Cup ride on California Chrome, the breakthrough St Leger win in Britain with Harbour Law for trainer Laura Mongan and jockey George Baker and Yoshito Yahagi’s Dubai Turf victory with Real Steel amidst the trainer’s personal battle with prostate cancer.

Last July, Chiong also won the Most Popular Jockey public vote in Hong Kong ahead of Joao Moreira.