Hong Kong 2025-26 Season Preview: Jockeys
Which jockey will be the season’s biggest improver? Who will emerge as Zac Purton’s biggest threat? And which rider should the Jockey Club be looking to recruit? The Idol Horse experts analyse the Hong Kong jockey roster on the latest edition of ‘Racing Roundtable’.
Hong Kong 2025-26 Season Preview: Jockeys
Which jockey will be the season’s biggest improver? Who will emerge as Zac Purton’s biggest threat? And which rider should the Jockey Club be looking to recruit? The Idol Horse experts analyse the Hong Kong jockey roster on the latest edition of ‘Racing Roundtable’.
1 September, 2025Which Jockey Will Be The Biggest Improver This Season?
Andrew Hawkins: In making his return from injury in time for the first barrier trials of the season, Lyle Hewitson has shown a hunger and a determination that stamps top jockeys. He hit the crossbar plenty last season and 29 wins doesn’t accurately reflect his form up until his June fall at Happy Valley. He has the ability to double that number this year.
Michael Cox: Vincent Ho is the obvious choice – he has missed nearly seven months through injury and is ready to return at the season opener. But as far as riders not returning from injury, Harry Bentley is my pick. He finished equal tenth last season with 31 wins and the quiet achiever of the jockey ranks could make a move up the standings this season. Unlike many foreign jockeys, Bentley rides regularly for Chinese trainers. Late last season Bentley had solid support from Tony Cruz and David Hayes. There is a calm consistency to Bentley’s style that should pay off this season.
Jack Dawling: Andrea Atzeni stormed past the 50-win mark to finish third in last season’s championship and he can continue to improve his strike rate and build his support heading into his third campaign in Hong Kong. The Sardinian-born rider has adapted to Hong Kong in stellar fashion and rode 31 of his 58 wins at the tight-turning Happy Valley last term. He can keep thriving at the city track and reap the rewards of his close association with David Eustace.
David Morgan: James Orman had a pretty healthy start to his late season stint in Hong Kong with two wins on the board from only six rides after his fourth race meeting. Then reality struck and it was another nine race meetings and 53 rides spanning a month before his third win. But by the season’s end he seemed to have secured a foothold, notching six wins in the final 10 meetings for a solid tally of 13. Those wins showed that he has support among the local Chinese trainers, as well as Caspar Fownes, and with that platform it will be no surprise to see him climb the standings.
What Is A Trend To Watch For With Jockeys This Season?
Michael Cox: Before Zac Purton became the champion we know today he would often point to a ‘lack of support’ for the reason he couldn’t compete with Douglas Whyte and then Joao Moreira. What he really meant was a lack of support from John Size – who formed the so-called “Dream Team” with Whyte during the jockey’s 13 championship streak and then “Dream Team 2.0” with Moreira.
Since then Purton has earned Size’s trust and they have been a formidable duo, teaming for 125 wins at 22.6% – his highest strike rate for any trainer with more than 400 rides – and 15 from 58 last season. Despite that recent success, the Australians have never really formed Dream Team 3.0. Could that change this season? A scroll through Purton’s Instagram documents he and wife Nicole in a range of exotic and expensive locales, and among them a post of Purton wining and dining Size and his wife Coco in St Tropez. Was talk of a more fruitful partnership on the menu? Purton’s relationship with one-time key supporter Caspar Fownes has also been a talking point around the trainers’ stand – could they re-connect after a four year-long ‘falling out’?
Jack Dawling: With the announcement of the new set of whip rules expected before the start of the season, it will be intriguing to see how many jockeys are hit with a ban under the new regulations.
David Morgan: The jockey roster has lacked depth recently in terms of high profile international riders joining for stints of between a few weeks and a few months: a decade and more ago it was common to have jockeys of the stature of Gerald Mosse, Craig Williams, Maxime Guyon, Mickael Barzalona and Mick Kinane arriving for extended short-term spells to bolster the competition within the ranks. With Zac Purton dominating the top end, James McDonald’s one-month stint last winter was perhaps a signal that we can expect the Hong Kong Jockey Club to push harder this season to bring in two or three of the bigger name international riders on short contracts, so as to keep the fans engaged.
Andrew Hawkins: Expect to see more fly-in, fly-out jockeys for the feature races throughout the season, particularly if some of those bigger names do come in mid-term and build relationships. James McDonald has become a constant fixture, but others may also make regular hit-and-run trips.
Who Is Most Likely To Take The Premiership From Zac Purton?
Andrew Hawkins: Andrea Atzeni’s ability to ride light and the difference in style he offers compared to a lot of the other big guns makes him the only conceivable threat to Zac Purton’s reign. It would also require a lot to go wrong for Purton, but Atzeni has the ability to ride a number of horses that Purton either can’t or won’t due to weight.
David Morgan: I’m with Andrew on this one, I honestly cannot see a jockey being positioned to take the title from Purton just yet, but Atzeni is the one rider on the roster with enough factors going for him. The ability to ride light is huge, he’s a proven Group 1 jockey, a former champion apprentice in Britain, he is coming to his prime at age 34, and he has earned winning support from important stables including John Size, Mark Newnham, David Eustace, Ricky Yiu and Caspar Fownes.
Jack Dawling: Until a certain Kiwi swaps Sydney for Sha Tin, I can’t see Purton giving up his crown anytime soon if he avoids suspension or injury. There was a brief moment after 16 meetings in the 2023/24 season when Hugh Bowman was going toe-to-toe with the eight-time champion, though, and an early battle between the two Australians this season would be a welcome one. Bowman’s weight – he rarely rides below 127 pounds and that is usually for Group races – means he cannot seriously challenge for top spot over the full course of the season.
Michael Cox: That certain Kiwi – James McDonald – is the most likely to challenge Purton but when? Until J-Mac decides to base himself at Sha Tin full-time then it will remain one way traffic and perhaps it will only be Purton’s retirement that lures McDonald to Hong Kong. It’s a pity, as Hong Kong racing is better for their being a ‘big two’ rather than one dominant force.
Which Rider Should Be On The Jockey Club’s Radar?
Andrew Hawkins: The HKJC should use its position atop the IFHA to encourage racing in emerging countries by offering their top jockeys a spot. Names like Moon Se Young from South Korea, Per-Anders Graberg from Sweden, Suraj Narredu from India and Vedat Abis from Turkey may not have the star power of James McDonald, Ryan Moore or Christophe Soumillon but they are top riders in their home countries and they would add intrigue around a roster that has become very familiar. Surely, too, they will be hungry to make the most of an elusive opportunity.
Michael Cox: Whatever happened to the recruitment policy of bringing up-and-coming talents to Hong Kong for short-term stints? The previous licensing boss Steve Railton actively recruited the best and brightest young jockeys to come and test the waters: Damian Lane, Oisin Murphy, Mickael Barzalona and Maxime Guyon all rode in Hong Kong ‘before they were stars’. They didn’t always find success, but they all left better riders and elevated Hong Kong racing’s reputation.
Zac Lloyd is the obvious choice out of Australia right now that fits the profile. At 22, Lloyd is a raw talent that struggled to stay out of the stewards’ room at times. Even if he is not ready for full time stint yet, he is destined to follow in his father Jeff’s footsteps and be based in Hong Kong one day and a late season trial run would suit.
Jack Dawling: At the age of 22, Dylan Brown McMonagle is riding out of his skin, has four Group 1s to his name and is within touching distance of a first Champion Jockey title in Ireland. While he may not be able to ride as light as the likes of Andrea Atzeni or Harry Bentley, the rider from County Donegal has ridden as low as 119 pounds in the past year and looks the ideal candidate for a short-term licence.
David Morgan: Hollie Doyle is already well-known in Hong Kong as a popular fixture at the International Jockeys Championship in recent years. But the club would do well to entice her in for a longer stint of two to three months. She has familiarity with the city and the racing and has proven herself around the world, including riding short licences in Japan.
What Headline Would You Like To See?
Andrew Hawkins: “Purton Reaches Historic 2000 Mark” – It’s going to happen this season should he remain fit. If he rides at the same strike rate as last season and there are no hiccups, it will happen somewhere around the two-thirds mark of the season. In fact, on modelling, Hong Kong Derby day on March 22 is the most likely meeting – this far out, at least – at which he will ride his 2000th Hong Kong winner.
Michael Cox: “Jockey Club Ups The Ante In Jockey Recruitment” – Over the last decade, Japan has surpassed Hong Kong as the place international riders want to spend a month or two. The Club should do whatever it can to attract those riders to Sha Tin.
Jack Dawling: “James McDonald Commits To Hong Kong Move” – The presence of a clear challenger to Zac Purton would reinvigorate Hong Kong racing.
David Morgan: “Group 1 Triumph For Fit Again Vincent Ho” – Vincent Ho took a terrible race fall at Sha Tin in February – his fourth bad one in 18 months – and suffered a brain injury that he has had to work through with long months of focused recovery and rehabilitation, but he is back riding trackwork with an aim to be race riding by the early weeks of the season. ∎
