Last Sunday’s fixture at Sha Tin was the 27th race meeting of our season. That means we have almost passed one-third of the 83 racing fixtures for the current term and there are a few horsemen who have so far stood out with some very good performances. One of those is Tye Angland and the Australian rider emphasised again his talent and good form last Sunday when riding a sensational four timer. Tye had never previously achieved that notable feat in Hong Kong and it took his season’s winning tally to 24, leapfrogging Douglas Whyte to 2nd place in the jockeys’ standings.
I had heard earlier in the season that Tye had set a target of riding 40 winners this time around. Given his progress he has now decided to adjust it to 50. It’s always good for a rider to aim high as by doing so he can get that extra bit of motivation to achieve results in races. It will certainly be a good challenge for Tye and also welcome news for his supporters and fans.
Joao Moreira is another jockey in prime form of late. This Friday marks two months since he moved here to ride in Hong Kong and including his brace of winners on Sunday, he has now ridden a total of 20 winners from the 11 race meetings in which he has participated. Should he carry on at such a pace, I’m sure he will be a serious contender for the jockeys’ premiership this season, even though current leader Zac Purton is still enjoying a healthy lead at the top, with 45 winners of his own. In each of the past five seasons, Douglas Whyte was crowned champion jockey with at least 96 winners each term. In three of those seasons Douglas managed to score a century of winners or more. Knowing this, I would say Zac’s achievement in racking up so many winners so early is impressive.
Of course, I believe it’s a bit early for anyone to say whether Zac will maintain his lead, or Tye, Dougie and Joao will challenge and overtake him. There are still a few factors that could change the outcome, such as the riding support they can garner as the season develops, and possibly the number of days they might be sidelined from races due to suspension or injuries (let’s hope the latter especially does not happen). Having said that, I think it is highly likely that these jockeys will deliver an intriguing battle for the coveted champion jockey crown this term.
While a few jockeys have both been doing well early in the season, rookie trainer Chris So has had a dream start to his training career, too. As we come to the end of the first third of the season, So has already notched 17 winners, including a winning double at Sha Tin on Sunday, which places on par with fellow local trainer Francis Lui. The duo, along with John Size and John Moore, are among the top four positions in the trainers’ leaderboard. He has also had his first international runner in Time After Time, who finished a fair 8th in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint a fortnight ago. Given the high competitiveness of Hong Kong racing, I think it’s never easy for a new kid on the block to find his feet here. But I’m sure you will agree with me that Chris has been doing a fine job so far.
I had a look back through the records of those home-grown trainers who have joined the local training ranks over the past decade. Danny Shum racked up the most winners in his maiden season as he had 34 in 2003/04, followed by last year’s Champion Trainer Dennis Yip, who had 31 winners in his rookie season in 2002/03. Like many of you who support so enthusiastically our local trainers and jockeys, I always feel especially pleased when these home-grown racing talents prove their ability. And it’s always a source of great satisfaction when they go even further to challenge for championships and international glory, as Dennis and Danny have done in the past two years. It will be interesting to see if Chris can maintain his strong start through to July and challenge Danny’s first-season record.
Whether these outstanding jockeys and trainers can add to their tallies at our Happy Valley races this evening is yet to be seen, but one thing is certain, this chilly weather will definitely give an extra bit of Christmas atmosphere to our Horse Around This Xmas themed meeting tonight.
For the eight races on the card, the Waterloo Handicap is the last race of the day, running as a Class 2 over 1200m. With a rating band of 95 to 75, it would give higher rated Class 3 horses whose ratings are above 75 being eligible to run in this race with Class 2 prize money. There is no Class 3 horse being nominated in the field, but John Moore has nominated an interesting three-year-old Exciting Dream for this race.
The pace should be good with speedster Ensemble leading, with Shahjee and New Glory competing for the lead with him. The good pace should give every horse a fair chance even those horses who will come from the back of the field like Dining World, Metallic Star and New Deerfield. I like New Deerfield for a win and place being drawn in gate 4, with Exciting Dream who is working well as one of his main opponents. Dining World has not trialled or run in Happy Valley before, but one cannot leave him out as well as Metallic Star and Ensemble for a place.
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