Elite sporting performance over an extended period is the mark of outstanding athletes and, after riding his 600th Hong Kong winner at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (27 November), Vincent Ho belongs in a select category of exceptional jockeys.
Vincent rode his first winner – Decent Fellow in 2010 for Peter Ng – and in an appropriate twist, brought up his Hong Kong milestone Healthy Happy, who is trained by Peter Ng’s son, Pierre – who has also quickly emerged as a quality horseman in his own right.
Vincent is a product of the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s developmental pathway, having learned his craft at the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School before spreading his wings and gaining valuable race riding experience in New Zealand before returning to Hong Kong where he has advanced to a string of honours including Hong Kong Champion Apprentice (2010/11), four-time winner of the Tony Cruz Award as best homegrown jockey in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2022/23 and also the first Hong Kong-born jockey to win the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship (IJC) in 2023.
Vincent’s fierce determination to be the best jockey possible is evidenced by his dedication to dieting and fitness, while his riding skills have seen him snare 13 Group 1 races, including 10 on Hong Kong’s record-breaking GOLDEN SIXTY, in a career characterised by an unquenchable thirst to learn and improve. Vincent regularly rides overseas during the Hong Kong summer break and he is a credit to his family and Hong Kong.
To put Vincent’s latest accomplishment in context, only 10 other jockeys have ridden 600 winners or more in Hong Kong – Douglas Whyte (1,813), Zac Purton (1,783), Joao Moreira (1,235), Tony Cruz (946), Brett Prebble (806), Karis Teetan (704), Gary Moore (694), Basil Marcus (671), Gerald Mosse (659) and Felix Coetzee (652).
Vincent has a chance to add to his prized collection of Group 1 spoils on GALAXY PATCH in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Mile (1600m) on 8 December and I wish him the best of luck as he attempts to defend his LONGINES IJC crown at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (4 December), when he will compete against 11 other world-class riders – Ryan Moore, Hugh Bowman, James McDonald, Zac, Hollie Doyle, Rachel King, Yuga Kawada, William Buick, Karis Teetan, Colin Keane and Mickael Barzalona.
With only eight days now until LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, preparations are well in hand for our flagship meeting with the presence of several world-class horses already at Sha Tin, including LIBERTY ISLAND, WITHOUT A FIGHT, SOUL RUSH, ANTINO, LUGAL, PRADARIA and JANTAR MANTAR.
The 10 exceptional horses already at Sha Tin will be joined by a further 18 LONGINES HKIR entrants by early on Sunday morning (1 December) and it will be interesting to watch the new arrivals adjust to their new surroundings.
Young Frenchman Alexis Pouchin has also made the journey from Europe to Sha Tin and he arrives with an impressive record and reputation. His effort to ride six Group 1s this season stamps him as a rider with rare potential and I wish him all the best during his first riding stint in Hong Kong.
At Sha Tin on Sunday, the Class 2 Peninsular Golden Jubilee Challenge Cup Handicap is carded as Race 7 at 3.55pm and will be run for prizemoney of HK$2.84 million on the All Weather Track.
The pace will be good to fast with MAJESTIC KNIGHT holding the front from his rails draw for Britney Wong, with FULL CREDIT sitting outside the leader. SING DRAGON and TOMODACHI KOKOROE will both settle on the speed.
SING DRAGON won three races on end over this trip and surface last season by either leading or sitting on the speed. His four runs this season have all been on turf where he has settled back and run home well, finishing just behind the placings. Matthew Chadwick rides SING DRAGON for the first time today and from his favourable draw in gate four is a win and place chance.
SING DRAGON’s stablemate FULL CREDIT has good early gate speed and will settle near the lead from gate five with Matthew Poon. At his last run, FULL CREDIT led and kicked clear on straightening before being run down by SWIFT ASCEND and SAVVY BRILLIANT over this trip at Happy Valley on 24 November. This is FULL CREDIT’s first race start on the dirt but he has trialled well on it previously and is a place chance.
RAGING BLIZZARD also runs for the first time on this surface. He has resumed from injury in good form finishing third at two runs this preparation, the latest behind BEAUTY CHARGE and WONDER KIT at Happy Valley on 20 November. James McDonald rides RAGING BLIZZARD for the first time and he will be running on strongly at the end and is a place chance.
At his last run over this distance and surface, CAPITAL DELIGHT was very impressive in beating MUST GO when he went back at the start before making a sustained run to be handy on the turn and won easily. He extended to 1650m at Happy Valley last start when seventh to CHILL CHIBI on 6 November. CAPITAL DELIGHT is a three-time winner under these conditions and, despite rising in grade from his previous win, is a place chance for Vincent Ho.
Of the other runners, TOMODACHI KOKOROE (Zac Purton) and CALL ME GORGEOUS (Lyle Hewitson) can run well and BUNDLE OF CHARM (Alexis Badel) has a good record on this surface, winning two of his three starts, and can improve on his recent for on turf and is a place chance.
I spent time in Conghua today (Saturday, 30 November) with our team to finalise some venue designs and to also review the progress of work on-site and the racecourse with the unique roof covering the Parade Ring, which will be magnificent.
The next step to complete the roof is to install solar panels, which will generate significant power output to operate the Grandstands.
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