Lyle Hewitson Double Includes 1000th Win

Lyle Hewitson after scoring his 1000th career win on HK Dragon at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (Hkjc.com).

Lyle Hewitson scored a double at Happy Valley in Hong Kong on Wednesday night and it took him to 1001 career wins.

In the second race of the evening over 1650m in a class 4 race he scored on the Douglas Whyte-trained Japanese-bred five-year-old gelding Lord Kanaloa.

It was the gelding’s first start this year and after jumping from draw six, Hewitson had him in the back four in the 12 horse field for the first half of the race.

He then moved him up steadily and he turned for home handy.

The horse found plenty in the straight to score easily by 2,25 lengths, a fine training feat by Whyte after the four month layoff.

Hewitson had thus reached 1000 wins almost exactly seven years after riding in his first professional race on March 6, 2016.

Hewitson scored again in the fifth race, a class 4 over 1200m, on the David Hayes-trained NZ-bred five-year-old gelding Snowalot (Contributor).

One wouldn’t have called him a winner at the 600m mark because he was in thbird last place on the rail in a strung out 12-horse field.

However, he managed to come off the rail entering the straight and made a strong run down the centre to win by a head.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club website provides a good summary of Hewitson’s career to date:

Background:

Lyle Hewitson hails from a racing family as his father, Carl Hewitson, is a former jockey who is now a trainer.

Hewitson started out in the saddle playing Polocrosse, excelling at both a provincial and national level.

At age 12 he set his sights on becoming a jockey and began riding work in Port Elizabeth during school holidays.

Instead of heading directly to the South African Jockeys’ Academy, Hewitson’s parents were adamant he finish school first, which meant that he began his race-riding career in work riders’ races outside of school hours.

With an education at Kearsney College under his belt (where he scored Academic Honours with five A’s and two 79’s in matric) Hewitson joined the well-regarded South African Jockey Academy in 2016 and landed his first win at his 10th ride, aboard Blizzard Belle at Fairview.

The emerging talent finished runner-up in the apprentice championship that season with 73 wins.

Hewitson secured the champion apprentice title in 2016/17 with 124 wins. He took the title again in 2017/18 with 184 wins and in doing so made history as the first apprentice to win the full South African Jockeys’ Championship since Michael Roberts in 1972/73.

His most successful day in the saddle came when he landed a Group 1 double at Scottsville on Saturday, 25 May, 2019 aboard Eden Roc in the Sun Gold Medallion and Celtic Sea in the SA Fillies Sprint.

After departing from his first contract in Hong Kong with three winners, Hewitson campaigned in Japan for a two-month stint where he finished with 19 wins and a pair of Group 2 triumphs after claiming the Spring Stakes atop Galore Creek at Nakayama Racecourse and Aoba Sho aboard Authority at Tokyo Racecourse.

Hewitson then returned to South Africa to capture a third champion jockey title, having ridden 263 winners through the 2020/21 season.

Returning to Hong Kong in November, 2021, Hewitson struck with early success before a shocking fall in December stalled his headway. However, the affable South African made a remarkable return to race-riding in January, 2020 to close out the season with 27 wins – most of which came in tandem with fellow countryman Douglas Whyte.

Achievements:

South African Champion Jockey (2017/18, 2018/19, 2020/21); South African Champion Apprentice (2016/17 & 2017/18).

Notable wins include:

Grade 1 Thekwini Stakes (2021 Rain In Holland), Grade 1 Gauteng Summer Cup (2018 Tilbury Fort), Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes (2018 Redberry Lane), Grade 1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge (2018 Undercover Agent), Grade 1 SA Fillies Sprint (2019 Celtic Sea), Grade 1 Gold Medallion (2019 Eden Roc), Grade 1 Garden Province Stakes (2019 Celtic Sea), Grade 2 Spring Stakes (2020 Galore Creek), Grade 2 Aobo Sho (2020 Authority).

Hong Kong Career Wins (at start of 2022/23 season) : 30 (win strike rate: 5.1%).

Hong Kong Wins this season: 26 (7%).