Providing opportunities for home-grown talent has long been at the heart of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s core values with our commitment to continuous development and it is one of the reasons Pierre Ng’s stunning success this season resonates so deeply in Hong Kong.
Pierre’s effort to lead the Hong Kong trainers’ championship with 35 wins – 13 more than Danny Shum (22) – after 28 meetings is not only a reflection of his own ambition and talent, but also validates the Club’s comprehensive development programmes.
At only 40 years of age, Pierre is shining example of what can be achieved with hard work, dedication and opportunity – and he follows in the celebrated footsteps of Tony Cruz, who was among the first intake of apprentices at the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School in 1972 before becoming a champion apprentice, jockey and trainer.
Frankie Lor, Francis Lui, Ricky Yiu and Danny Shum are also illustrious beneficiaries of career pathways provided by the Club. More recently, Vincent Ho has emerged as a world-class rider as a graduate of our specialised development programmes, while Matthew Chadwick, Derek Leung, Matthew Poon, Jerry Chau, Angus Chung, Keith Yeung, Alfred Chan and Dylan Mo have all left their marks.
Pierre first entered the Hong Kong system in 2007 as a work rider for his father Peter and, after stints with John Size, Paul O’Sullivan and Francis Lui, as well as key overseas assignments under top foreign trainers while earning two degrees from the University of New South Wales, he is now enjoying the full benefits of his thorough grounding.
With his treble on Sunday with MUGEN, AESTHETICISM and JUMBO FORTUNE, Pierre has saddled at least one winner at each of the past 13 meetings, posting 23 wins in the process, which is an incredible streak.
To put this in context, since the introduction of professional racing in Hong Kong in 1971, only Ng Chi Lam has managed a longer winning run, saddling 35 winners across 18 meetings from 1 January, 1973 to 19 May, 1973.
With just under a third of the season completed, there is still a long way to go in the battle for the trainers’ championship but Pierre has clearly made a great start and it will be fascinating to watch the title race unfold over the following months.
With Christmas less than a week away, our Winter Wonderland theme continues in Happy Valley’s Beer Garden on Wednesday night.
Transformed for the festive season, the world-famous Beer Garden offers fabulous food and beverages as well as live entertainment as we celebrate the holiday season while also enjoying world-class racing from close quarters.
The feature on the card at Happy Valley is the Saturn Handicap carded as Race 5 at 9.10pm for Class 2 horses over 1650m with prizemoney of HK$3,120,000. CHILL CHIBI is currently in second place in the DBS x Manulife Million Challenge and can take the lead from HUMBLE STAR with a top-four finish in this race.
The speed in the race will be moderate to good but will be dictated by Andrea Atzeni, the rider of DROMBEG BANNER, who is the only noted leader in the field. KEEFY has drawn the rails and should be on DROMBEG BANNER’S back with HAPPY TOGETHER also in the forward division.
One of the uncertainties regarding the race is how DROMBEG BANNER, FIND MY LOVE and HAPPY TOGETHER will handle Happy Valley, while CHILL CHIBI is the ‘King of the Valley’ with four wins from five starts.
CHILL CHIBI has been outstanding winning all three runs this season since returning from a long lay-off. His first two wins were over this distance before he extended to 1800m and finished powerfully to beat ROMANTIC LAOS on 29 November when he was eased down on the line for a comfortable win. CHILL CHIBI looks an outstanding prospect and is my first choice for a win and place for regular rider Jerry Chau despite the rise in class to Class 2 and coming back in distance from 1800m to 1650m.
DROMBEG BANNER is chasing a winning hat-trick after leading throughout to win his last two starts over 1400m at Sha Tin, the latest beating FIND MY LOVE on 26 November. DROMBEG BANNER has won over 1600m before but is having his first run at Happy Valley. Andrea Atzeni is an excellent front-running rider and, from gate three, DROMBEG BANNER is a definite threat to CHILL CHIBI.
FIND MY LOVE ran home well when runner-up behind DROMBEG BANNER last start and also comes to Happy Valley for the first time. Keith Yeung will have FIND MY LOVE midfield off the fence and he is a place chance.
HAPPY TOGETHER has been in good form this season, winning two on end over 1600m at Sha Tin and then settling closer to the speed than usual and staying on for third behind THE GOLDEN SCENERY and ATULLIBIGEAL in the Chevalier Cup on 26 November. HAPPY TOGETHER has been at Conghua since that run and is a place chance for Alexis Badel. He is also running at the track for the first time.
This is a small but competitive field, with horses such as RISING FROM ASHES and GALAXY WITNESS also worth some thought, along with KEEFY, who ran an improved race at his last run and has been at Conghua since that effort.
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