There will be an Irish flavour to the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) for the first time in five years, with Colin Keane set to light up Happy Valley among a host of overseas stars on December 4.

The Jockey Club confirmed the line-up for the HK$1 million event on Tuesday, with Ryan Moore, James McDonald, Mickael Barzalona, Yuga Kawada, Hollie Doyle, Rachel King and William Buick also jetting into Hong Kong for the contest.

Keane, 30, makes his third appearance at the prestigious jockey challenge after flying over for the IJC in 2018 and 2019.

A five-time champion jockey in Ireland, he will bid to go one better than his runner-up performance on his debut in the IJC, where he collected a win and a placing from the four legs.

Keane also struck with a winner on his return to the city circuit a year later, taking his record in Hong Kong to two victories from just eight rides.

He will be joined at Happy Valley by reigning Hong Kong champion jockey, Zac Purton, and last year’s victor Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, who became the first home-grown winner of the contest.

Moore and McDonald are no strangers to the IJC and fly into Hong Kong during a stellar year, with the duo battling it out at the top of the Longines World’s Best Jockey rankings, comfortably clear of Buick in third.

The retained jockey for global operation Godolphin, Buick will represent Great Britain after he enjoyed Group One glory in the Champions & Chater Cup (2,400m) at Sha Tin aboard Rebel’s Romance in May.

Both Doyle and King – who will represent Great Britain and Australia, respectively – have previous IJC experience, with the former finishing second in 2021 and the latter ranked third 12 months ago, while Barzalona will aim to return to France victorious at the sixth time of asking.

The final two positions in the 12-strong field are still up for grabs, with the spots going to the second and third-highest ranked riders in the Hong Kong premiership after the Happy Valley meeting on November 22.

Hugh Bowman (19 wins) is in pole position to fill the first remaining spot, while Karis Teetan (10 wins), Matthew Chadwick (10 wins), Matthew Poon Ming-fai (9 wins) and Luke Ferraris (9 wins) look set to fight out the final opening.

The four-race competition works on a points-based system, with 12 points for a win, six points for a second and four points for a third, with a total prize pool of HK$1 million, including HK$600,000 to the winner.