Keagan de Melo never managed to breakthrough in Hong Kong and only had 33 wins in two-and-a-third seasons chiefly due to a lack of opportunities, but he still viewed it as a valuable experience and hoped he would be a better rider for it (Picture: HKJC)
Keagan de Melo is even money to land a Gr 1 in his second meeting after his return from Hong Kong as he will be aboard the Alan Greeff-trained champion filly Golden Palm in the Gr 1 WSB Cape Fillies Guineas on Saturday at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
Asked whether her availability was one of the reasons he returned from Hong Kong he replied, “No, not necessarily. I was always coming back. She became available and we asked for the ride and we got it.”
Keagan’s agents are former Summerveld trainer Lloyd Lunn and Chris Santos.
Keagan was the SA champion jockey with 277 wins in the 2022/2023 season and he followed that with returns of 21 wins in his first season in Hong Kong, 12 wins in his second season and he had not scored a single win this season before departing the island.
So, as far as winners were concerned his Hong Kong stint was quite a downturn from the returns he was enjoying in South Africa, but he revealed that this had not had anything to do with his quality of riding and he added his confidence had not been effected at all.
He said, “Even in my last couple of seasons in Hong Kong, it might not look great, but I still performed well with what I had.”
He said he was as confident in his riding as ever before.
He said the stint in Hong Kong had definitely been worthwhile.
He said, “Experience-wise and financially it was good. They say most people who come out of Hong Kong improve, so hopefully I’ve improved a little bit.”
Keagan has many followers in South Africa and a lot of them were astonished to see the lack of support he was given on the island.
He explained, “The guys that are in demand have been there for a while, know the system very well and it’s a very hard system to get used to. it’s just hard to get going. When you think you’re getting going, it slows down a little bit.”
He said his highlights on the island were his first win on the island on Valhalla in just his second meeting and his win last season in the Gr 3 Premier Cup (1,400m) on Copartner Prance.
Considering he earned a cheque in his first five rides on the island, including a win, coupled with his obvious skills as a rider, his career over there looked set to take off. But it was not the case.
His association with Copartner Prance, which yielded a Gr 3 win, a Gr 2 second and a Gr 3 second in just five rides also looked to be a launching pad, but that was also not to be.
Besides being a good experience for his career, Keagan thoroughly enjoyed his time in Hong Kong.
He said he had been able to have a lot of family time, which is much more difficult to do with the more busy race-riding schedule in South Africa.
He and family had done such things as visit China, Vietnam and Thailand, went on hikes in Hong Kong, went to Hong Kong Disneyland, to Ocean Park and to all of the beaches.
He concluded by expressing his gratitude, “I had a great time, I built some great relationships and the Hong Kong Jockey Club was great to me and my family – I can’t thank them enough.”
Keagan will be based in Durban.
For the first month he will be staying with family in Johannesburg while his house in Durban gets sorted out.
He is sure to be in demand around the country and will get ample support if deciding to chase the championship next season.
Besides the ride on Golden Palm, other big horses he has landed rides on are Snow Pilot in the WSB Green Point Stakes and on Malmesbury Missile in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Cape Guineas.
