Hong Kong’s racing fans were left underwhelmed with the announcement from the Hong Kong Jockey Club on Thursday that David Probert will join the riding ranks for the new season on a six-month licence, yet those who know Probert speak of a talented horseman.
There’s a high bar of expectation among racing’s fans in Hong Kong whose connection to the sport has been forged watching brilliant expatriate riders of the reputation and calibre of Zac Purton, Joao Moreira, Douglas Whyte, Ryan Moore, Brett Prebble, Gerald Mosse and a host of other champions and Group 1-winning stars.
The reaction to Probert’s licensing is not a slight on his abilities as a jockey, nor his character, nor his potential to make his name in the two-track city, but speaks much to the 36-year-old’s profile, or lack of, outside of Britain: the reality is, Hong Kong racing’s followers simply don’t know much about the rider who has been described as “quiet” and “laidback”.
Probert’s tale is in fact one of eye-catching, exciting precocity turned to solid, dedicated professionalism across almost 20 years as a stalwart of trainer Andrew Balding’s famed setup at Kingsclere in Berkshire. His career has brought him a champion apprentice title, 1,681 career wins in Britain – ranking 11th among active jockeys there – seven ‘century’ seasons and 22 Group race wins. But never a Group 1.
You won’t get gushing adulation when it comes to Wales’s number one flat race jockey, but there’s enough understated yet firm appreciation and sober respect about him to think he’s worth his spot on the Hong Kong roster.
Group 1-winning trainer Hughie Morrison expressed disappointment to Idol Horse when told of the jockey’s impending relocation to Sha Tin.
“That’s a shame, I like David riding for me, he’s ridden two or three winners for the stable this year and he’s riding for me tomorrow,” Morrison said.
Where it began
Probert started out in his hometown of Bargoed in the valleys of South Wales, riding pony races and cutting his teeth in the local racing yard of Bernard Llewellyn. The veteran trainer’s daughter Beth Williams is the yard secretary and spoke warmly about the jockey they have known since he was a boy.
His most recent win for the stable capped a riding treble at Ffos Las on July 9, in a four-runner Class 6 worth a meagre £3,454.44 (HKD$36,346) to the winner.
“He came here as a schoolboy, he’d ride in the school holidays,” Williams said. “Then he went to Andrew Balding’s, had his first rides there and was champion apprentice. He’s always had a really lovely character and he’s a hard-working jockey.
“You could tell (he would make a good jockey), he had the right build, he was small and light and he was good with the horses, he grew up with horses.”
His build has enabled him to ride at 117lb this season in Britain and being able to ride at that weight should serve him well in Hong Kong
First winner, ‘Iron Man’ down
Despite heading off to the British Racing School and then starting his career at the bigger Balding yard, an operation famed for developing apprentices, Probert’s first winner was for the Llewellyn stable.
“Yes, it was for us, Mountain Pass at Wolverhampton,” Williams said.
That was December 3, 2007, one year after his first race ride, and Probert took his mount to the lead travelling on the bit two furlongs out before driving clear and holding the odds-on favourite Zennerman by less than a length.
Riding the second was Neil Callan, dubbed ‘Iron Man’ by Hong Kong’s racing fans during his years in the city.
“He’s come through the Andrew Balding academy where they give them opportunities and he’s improved into a good all-round rider,” Callan said.
“He comes across as quite laidback and quiet, and he goes about his business doing his own thing. He rides every day up and down the country and rides plenty of winners all-year-round, he works hard to pay the bills.”
Probert’s qualities
Richard Hughes was one of the best jockeys in Europe during his time in the saddle and the three-time British champion is now a Group 1-winning trainer, too, after No Half Measure’s 66-1 win in the July Cup. Probert partnered Hughes’ Saiydah Hard Spun to a head win at Ascot the day before the trainer’s biggest win.
“He’s a very good horseman, he’s got great balance and he just rides well,” Hughes said. “It’s very difficult in Hong Kong to get a winner early, so no doubt he’ll need a bit of help with that, but he’s as good as most guys. His main attribute is that he’s a great horseman.”
Meanwhile, Morrison said: “I think he does his homework and I’m sure he could do very well (in Hong Kong), I think he’s a good all-round jockey that could perhaps have already gone all the way to the top and be competing.”
Triumphs and that missing Group 1
Probert’s standout achievement is winning the apprentice jockey title in Britain in 2007, a tied title, shared with his fellow Balding stable apprentice William Buick, who has gone on to greater fame and Group 1 successes.
“Sometimes you prefer David to be riding than William,” said Morrison, alluding to Probert’s willingness to get on and do the job wherever that might be. “Would William want to be riding a low-rated horse at Ffos Las? No.
“I think David’s a very, very good jockey, he’s a good judge of pace.”
Among Probert’s Group race wins are 12 Group 2 victories and a Britannia Handicap win at Royal Ascot on Born In Bombay, later a multiple winner in Hong Kong when renamed Born In China, but so far he has not been able to nail a Group 1 win.
Most of his biggest wins have been for the Balding stable that he has been attached to for so long, including 18 of his Group race scores.
“He’s been part of the Andrew Balding furniture for a long time,” Callan said. “It’s hard to branch out and take the next level when you might have to give way to those retained riders like Oisin Murphy, but sometimes to get to that next level and get on the better horses you have to step away from the yard.”
Probert has bagged an Oaks in India and has ridden at times across Europe and in Qatar, but the closest he has come to a Group 1 win was second place, aboard Tip Two Win in the 2018 2,000 Guineas and Hoo Ya Mal in the 2022 Derby. The fact that those contenders were 50-1 and 150-1 longshots speaks to the few genuine chances he has had in Group 1 races.
“I think he just didn’t have the luck to land on that Group 1 horse yet,” Hughes said. “At that time when he came out of his (apprenticeship) Andrew Balding was doing well but he didn’t have a flurry of Group 1 horses either, so David was maybe unlucky not to stumble on one and you need luck in this game.
“He’s quiet and reserved as a person,” the Classic winning ex-jockey added, “but I want them performing on the track and David will do for me any day of the week.” ∎
