Hong Kong’s newest trainer Brett Crawford is on the ground at Sha Tin this week observing, asking questions, and meeting owners as he builds a team for next season, and that team will most likely be stationed alongside Mark Newnham and Douglas Whyte at Olympic Stables.
“That’s pretty much what they’re thinking,” Crawford told Idol Horse, while acknowledging that a few things need to fall into place around the Hong Kong Jockey Club for it to happen.
Current Olympic Stables handler Jamie Richards is seeking a move to the Sha Tin end, where phase one of the six-phase stable renovation project will be completed in July. If that happens, Crawford will be able to move into the Olympic complex, which is situated beyond the home turn at the opposite side of Sha Tin racecourse from the ‘old’ stable blocks.
“I’ve tried it down at Olympic side,” Richards told Idol Horse. “Now I’ve got an opportunity to try it at the top side and we’re looking forward to it.”
David Eustace, coming to the end of a successful first season in Hong Kong and one of the four trainers affected by phase one, will move out of the temporary stables at block 20 and into stable block two, previously occupied by his predecessor, Tony Millard. That will enable Richards to move across to the temporary stables after Eustace; Crawford would then move into his Olympic base.
Crawford arrived in Hong Kong from South Africa on Saturday and has been at morning trackwork since then putting in the legwork needed to get a handle on the way things operate. He will be added to the roster to start training officially on July 17, the day after the current season ends, but is allowed to recruit and prepare horses as of June 1, as Eustace did this time last year.
Without boxes and horses yet, the new handler is making the most of his time to gain a deeper understanding of the Hong Kong system and methods.
“It’s a bit of a novel experience,” the South African said, “waking up very early in the morning and going to trackwork without a horse to look at. But it’s part of the process and it’s good.
“The Club is busy arranging and allocating some stables to us so we will be able to accept horses, but obviously the horses I get can’t do much work until the track reopens for the new season.
“With the construction that’s going on (at Sha Tin) they’re a little bit tight for space, but I believe they’re waiting for the completion of the yards that they’re almost done with.
“From my understanding,” he continued, “David will move and then Jamie will move across to where David was. But if that doesn’t happen then there’s the possibility of me being in interim stables inside the main complex until such time as they can move.”
Crawford is working to recruit horses not only with Hong Kong owners but also those from overseas since the Club opened up permits to non-Hong Kong residents in the autumn of 2022. Among those initial overseas based owners were Yulong’s Zhang Yuesheng and prominent South African owner Mary Slack.
“I think this week the Club is issuing all the new permits and hopefully we can get our hands on some of those permits and look to bring some horses in,” Crawford said.
“We have made applications for overseas owners and we are in the process with that so hopefully we’ll get a favourable response, that would be good for me. And then there are one or two South Africans who already have permits that I’m busy talking to and hopefully we can find something for them to fulfil their permits.”
Key to the early success of many first season stables is the recruitment of transfers from stables within Hong Kong and Crawford is conscious of that reality.
“First and foremost, it’s meeting owners here and introducing myself, so I have appointments set up for some meet and greets with owners through the course of June,” he said.
“Secondly we have been fortunate enough to have a few people who are interested in getting involved with the yard. Once everything is out in the open and everyone can see that I’m here now, hopefully we’ll see progress.
“It’s a difficult one because effectively I can only have runners in the new season, so I’m sure people will want their horses to run a bit in what’s left of this season.”
Crawford said one of the big differences to where he has come from in South Africa is the much higher number of barrier trials that are held in Hong Kong, but he believes his previous visits to the city have helped him.
“I’ve been to Hong Kong a few times now so it’s not totally new to me,” he said. “It’s more about learning what the processes are and how things work.
“In South Africa we don’t do a lot of trialling, we do more grass gallops … In the trials they would probably work harder because it’s a race simulation, so that’s been something I’ve found interesting.
“It’s about adapting but other than that it should be straightforward.”
Meanwhile, Crawford’s son James has officially taken over the stable’s South African string. Up to the end of May, both father and son were listed in a training partnership but, as of June 1, all horses are running in James’ name only.
James Crawford will have his first solo top-flight runner on Saturday when last year’s G1 Durban July winner Oriental Charm contests the G1 Gold Challenge (1600m) at Greyville, a World Pool contest. ∎
