Every foreign jockey arrives in Hong Kong with a reputation. Some come with Group 1 résumés, some come with hype and a few arrive believing they’re going to dominate from the moment they land. But Hong Kong has a way of testing you. It tests you mentally, professionally and emotionally. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve ridden – this place finds your weak spots fast.
Right now, the best example is James McDonald. He’s running away with the World’s Best Jockey Award yet again this year and deservedly so. But at the moment, he has had a fall where he could have been hurt – thankfully he won’t miss any rides – and he is 0 for 13 through his first two meetings back in Hong Kong. The thing is, he isn’t riding badly. He has had some tough barriers from where the horse could not have won no matter what, whether he went forward or back.
I’ve seen world-class jockeys arrive full of confidence and leave full of doubt. The pace is faster in Hong Kong at the start of a race, the racing is tighter and the pressure – on and off the track – is constant. There are up to 27 riders on the roster at any one time competing for 14 or 12 rides in any one race.
Hong Kong racing doesn’t care about your reputation, it just cares about your results.
Happy Valley is not an easy place to ride. In the 1200m and 1650m races there is around 200 meters to the first turn – and you cannot be stuck wide if you want to win. What any new jockey coming to Hong Kong should do is watch replays of Douglas Whyte riding Happy Valley in his prime. He is the best to ever ride the track, and he somehow would always find the fence within 100m of the start. He rode the home bend beautifully, steadying before the final turn, giving his horse space, swinging back in to hug the rail.
Then there is Joao Moreira – he was a superstar – but when he first arrived in Hong Kong he struggled at Happy Valley. It took a long time but he adjusted.
Nowhere in the world are barriers more important than Happy Valley. Over the first two meetings he has ridden, James has fared badly. Sometimes even when you ride perfectly, the race shape can bury you.
James will be fine. He has too much ability, too much class and too many big rides coming. This is simply Hong Kong doing what it does. He will ride his way through it – but it’s a reminder to everyone else: nobody beats Hong Kong on talent alone.
Some great jockeys couldn’t handle that. I’ve seen riders with massive CVs – better than some who succeeded – pack their bags within months. On the flip side, Brett Prebble and Zac Purton – two of Hong Kong’s greatest – stuck it out when things were ugly early. They could have left but look what happened to them.
Then there are the cultural differences. What people outside Hong Kong often don’t understand is how quickly the public conversation can change. This is a superstitious city, whether you are superstitious or not. If a jockey hits a cold patch, Hong Kong talks. Rumors spread. I’ve seen owners refuse to put a jockey on because he was “unlucky” with a certain trainer. Owners want to take you to a temple to rid you of bad luck.
This place humbles you first. Then, if you’re good enough and determined enough, it makes you better than you’ve ever been before.
Mark Newnham: Why His Success Should Surprise No One
Mark Newnham leading the trainers’ table right now should shock absolutely nobody who understands Hong Kong or understands Mark. He didn’t have a massive stable in Australia like Chris Waller or Ciaron Maher. What he did have in Sydney was a sharp focus on win strike rate, combining meticulous planning and elite communication skills – the kind you only learn from working under someone like Gai Waterhouse.
Mark was a long-time foreman, trackwork rider and jockey within the Waterhouse system.
Gai was ahead of her time in how she handled people. There has never been anybody as good as her when it comes to public relations. Mark absorbed that. In Hong Kong, communication and public relations is half the battle – unless your name is John Size.
People forget this is only his third season. But the seeds of this early season surge were planted late last term. Mid-way through May the Australian was seventh in the trainers’ championship with 41 wins but he didn’t chase wins and try to finish strong – he positioned his horses for the next season. He had just three more winners from the final 12 meetings, slipping to ninth. He wanted to start fast this season. And he did.
I have seen so many Australasian trainers that don’t start seasons well – especially early in their careers (of course there is Size, again, who never starts well and finishes like a freight train. But Size is a special case, one of one). Most finish a season well, but then they give horses too much time in the off-season and they aren’t ready to fire early.
Mark isn’t falling into the same trap. The last two seasons he has started well. His horses have returned ready. He is not a trainer who needs a heap of runners to win races; he needs the right horses at the right time and that’s what he has now. The stable is full, the young horses are progressing and the results reflect exactly the sort of long-term thinking Hong Kong rewards.
I think he will have around 60 winners this season – that means this season could be his chance at his first championship.
The Voided Race: Right Call, and It Won’t Happen Twice
I was disappointed after Saturday’s voided race – because I backed the horse that crossed the line first – but the Hong Kong Jockey Club absolutely made the right call. Safety comes first, always. But the thing you must understand about Hong Kong is this: once a mistake happens here, it never happens again.
What occurred was extremely rare. Most of the time when a race is voided it is either early in the race or during multi-lap events. On Saturday there was clearly a breakdown in communication, a system glitch. But Hong Kong doesn’t allow repeated glitches.
When I was riding, the rope system behind the gates was designed to move horses closer to the start and prevent situations like what happened on Saturday, with a horse breaking free and running the wrong way around the track towards the field.
The system to prevent this is efficient, but it has to work perfectly. If it doesn’t, the risks are enormous. So while the voiding may have frustrated punters, the decision was correct.
I’ve ridden in countries where problems like this are brushed aside, or worse, debated endlessly without ever being fixed. Hong Kong is the opposite. Procedures are examined, corrected and improved instantly. The next meeting, the system works. Full stop.
That’s why Hong Kong remains the gold standard. You can disagree with a call in the moment – it certainly stung when it cost me money – but long term, you always end up respecting the consistency.
The race was voided. It was the right decision. And the one thing I know for sure: it won’t happen again.
Shane’s Selection
Tip: Happy Valley – Race 3, No. 3 Run Run Timing
His last run he was four-wide with no cover, so he was taken back at ‘the rock’ to be three-wide with cover. He was very wide on the turn but finished strongly in the straight. He has gate two on Wednesday night and should get the perfect run. ∎
