Hewitson's Bold Bid In International Jockeys Challenge
Lyle Hewitson is denied victory in the first leg of the Challenge by Rachel King, who was having her first ever ride in Hong Kong (HKJC)
Lyle Hewitson entered the last leg of the Longines International Jockeys Challenge (IJC) at Happy Valley tonight (Wednesday) in the lead thanks to three prominent finishes in the first three legs.
In the all important last leg Hewitson was on the Frankie Lor-trained Lucky Archangel, who was paying 11.00 on the Tote. He managed to get on to the rail in a handy position from draw six, but this horse was never traveling like a winner and after making a brief bid down the inside he faded into a disappointing tenth place.
Local jockey Vincent Ho won the race on the David Hayes-trained Tomodachi Kokoroe, who was paying 7.20 on the Tote.
The win also clinched the IJC for Ho.
Ho, in the understatement of the year when asked how he felt about winning the Challenge, replied, “Oh I won it?”
Ho had earlier kept himself in the hunt for the HK$600,000 first prize when finishing third in each of the first two legs.
He became Hong Kong’s first home-grown jockey to win the IJC.
Ho claimed the title with 20 points – 12 for a win, six for second and four for third – from Purton (18) and King (16). Hewitson also finished on 16 points.
In the first leg over 1000m Hewitson pinged the gates from barrier position 12 of 12 on the Douglas Whyte-trained 20/1 shot Harmony Fire. The pacey gelding hit the front in the straight but was mowed down by the David Hall-trained Oversubscribed, who was paying 10.00 on the Tote and was ridden by Rachel King.
In the second leg over 1650m Hewitson was aboard the Tony Cruz-trained Red Hare King (So You Think) and he managed to get him into the perfect one out and one back position with cover after jumping from draw three. The horse ran on well in the straight but was no match for the Caspar Fownes-trained favourite M Unicorn, who swept past and won comfortably under Ryan Moore. Hewitson’s vigorous driving saw Red Hare King clinging on to second place by a hair’s breadth.
In the third leg over 1650m he was on the Frankie Lor-trained All Beauty, who was paying 10.00 on the Tote and was drawn four. Hewitson got him on to the rail in midfield and his determined driving in the straight enabled him to get up for third in a race won by Zac Purton on the Francis Lui-trained Silver Sonic.
Ho said later about his historic achievement, “I was not aware (I had won) and I didn’t even know about the points, I just kept riding every race to have a winning chance.”
“I felt the track today favoured the front-runners a little bit so that definitely helped and of course Mr Hayes’ team did a great job and helped me win this.”
Ho is now firmly established among the world’s elite. But, when reminded of his time serving as an attendant to the riders on IJC night when still an apprentice, the 33-year-old revealed the humble side to his nature that has endeared him to racing fans just as much as his excellence in the saddle.
Ho said: “Christophe (Soumillon), Frankie (Dettori) and Ryan (Moore) were always my idols, right up until today, and I keep learning from those good jockeys, those good horsemen. There’s still plenty to improve to (get to) their levels.”
Reflecting on his historic achievement, Ho said: “Especially after a tough injury, coming back to win this, I’m really grateful for. Hopefully this will inspire more generations to come and the Hong Kong people especially.
“As the first homegrown of course I received plenty of support here and hopefully it will inspire more kids.”
Ho can now look forward to getting back aboard his “best friend” in Golden Sixty, while Rachel King will return to Australia well satisfied with her IJC debut.
Greg Cheyne – the thinking man’s jockey impressing in the UK
Greg Cheyne after winning a big Heritage Handicap at the York Ebor meeting on the Dylan Cunha-trained Silver Sword
Cheyne has an admirable seven winners from only 50 mounts in the UK
Neil Andrews
I’ve been presenting sport and horseracing for 40 years. Over the breadth of my broadcasting career I’ve met and interviewed numerous famous people. Most were lovely, a few darn right horrible and whilst you might think it would be otherwise, in my experience the bigger the star the nicer the person.
Of course there’s the odd exception, but generally an A-list celebrity such as Will Smith is God’s perfect ingredient for cooking up a captivating interview. In contrast B-listers can be bad eggs, and even a Michelin Star chef can’t whip up a good omelette with rotten eggs.
What applies to the wider world of entertainment holds true to sportscasting.
Every now and again a broadcaster is gifted a gem. A guest whose eloquence and knowledge of their subject matter elevates the interview-format into a conversation through which the content becomes a masterclass.
Those television moments are gold and you never forget them. To this day I still cite my face-to-face chat with golfer Lee Trevino as my most enjoyable interview and that must have been a quarter of a century ago.
On Saturday my guest for the live coverage of the Green Point Stakes was jockey Greg Cheyne. Simply put, he was marvellous.
When it comes to knowledge-transfer Greg is clearly a natural and his pre- and post-race analysis produced incredible insight.
As a horse race the Grade 2 Green Point demanded high quality analysis and Greg delivered. It was billed by many as the day Charles Dickens would put Princess Calla in her place and stake his claim for January’s LÓrmarins Kings Plate, but it didn’t pan out like that. Instead, it was See It Again who blew his opposition away and in so doing laid down a monster of a marker for the season.
Greg Cheyne’s expert contribution shouldn’t come as a surprise. I’ve always billed him as a thinking man’s jockey and his most recent overseas experience has improved his considerable skillset even further.
Cheyne is much travelled. From 2009 to 2013 he spent two and a half years in Hong Kong and then the last 18 months in Singapore. Throw in short stints and invitations to Germany, Korea, Macau, Mauritius and Malaysia and you can see he’s a man who’s not afraid to explore new horizons.
Greg was kind enough to give me an update on how his move to the United Kingdom has gone.
He is based in Newmarket at the Somerville Lodge operation of trainer William Haggas.
His days are mad busy, he rides out in the mornings and Haggas has got him learning the ropes in every facet of stable life from mucking out and grooming to assisting head lads with feeding, bandaging, wound care, basic medication. For the past few months he’s been working alongside the three yard assistants and learning their duties.
It seem that the planets might be aligning as literally over the road from Somerville Lodge another South African has moved into the William Jarvis yard. Jarvis retired in October and Dylan Cunha is now training out of Phantom House Stables.
Whilst burning both ends of the candle, Cheyne has also booted home an admirable seven winners from only 50 mounts. Those 50 starts have taken him to some of the UK’s big racedays and he’s already ridden at 24 different racecourses.
To the last point Greg told me, “The tracks are all so different, each one is unique and the phrase ‘horses for courses’ has never been more relevant.”
By way of confirming that their move to the UK was what they were looking for, Greg and his wife Claire recently purchased a house in Newmarket.
Whether it’s Tattersall Sales, Rowley Mile or July racemeets, they love the buzz in the village, and as sure as Greg was going to ride winners for Alan Greeff at Fairview on Friday, the introduction of a braai and a dog is guaranteed to follow.
Gr 1 Royal Ascot Winner And Gr 1-Producing Sire Sold For R10,000
The first lot on the BSA December Online Sale today (Wednesday) was the Gr 1 -producing stallion Byword, a 2006 born son of Arc winner Peintre Celebre.
Byword’s only Gr 1 win was in the Prince Of Wales Stakes at the Royal Ascot meeting and he was the Champion Older Male Miler in France in 2010.
At stud he produced the Gr 1 Empress Club Stakes winner Camphoratus in his first crop.
However, he has only produced three stakes winners in total from 152 runners and it appears that his last crop was the 2018 one.
He was sold today by the estate late David Makins.
He originally stood at Middlefield Stud in KZN, but in 2014 Mauritzfontein reportedly bought a controlling share in him.
He was purchased today by Heversham Park Farm.
Heversham already have four stallions on their farm in Jackson (Dynasty), Capetown Noir (Western Winter), Moofeed (Duke Of Marmalade) and Pomodoro (Jet Master).
Perhaps there will be an attempt to revive the 17-year-old Byword’s career at Heversham.
O'Brien Has Four Chances For Gr 1 Success In HK
O’Brien at Sha Tin Trackwork on Wednesday morning (Picture: Kenneth Chan)
Longer the race, better the chance of Aidan O’Brien celebrating Hong Kong International Races success
Legendary Irish trainer is the only handler with runners in all four of Sunday’s Group One events at Sha Tin’s marquee meeting
by Mark Worwood (South China Morning Post)
Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, the only handler with runners in all four of Sunday’s Group One events at the Longines Hong Kong International Races, arrived in the city on Wednesday morning and headed straight to Sha Tin to oversee their trackwork sessions.
Aesop’s Fables, Cairo, Luxembourg and Warm Heart will represent O’Brien in this weekend’s features. While the three-time Hong Kong Vase-winning conditioner is generally reluctant to rank his gallopers publicly, his trackside comments suggest the longer the race, the better chance he thinks he has of success on Sunday.
O’Brien, whose stayers Highland Reel (2015 and 2017) and Mogul (2020) have won three of the past eight editions of the Hong Kong Vase (2,400m), will run Warm Heart in this year’s HK$24 million contest.
Warm Heart, the Galileo three-year-old filly out of three-time Group One-winning sprinter Sea Siren, has two elite-level victories over extended trips on her resume and travelled to Hong Kong following her neck second to Inspiral in last month’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (2,000m) at Santa Anita.
“It was the plan [to bring Warm Heart to Hong Kong]. She’s a very consistent filly, she has a nice weight pull, and she’s well in,” O’Brien said, confirming Ryan Moore would ride his lightly weighted runner.
“We were a little bit unsure about whether to go to the mile and a quarter [Cup] or the mile and a half [Vase]. She looks like she might be a little bit better at a mile and a half even though she comes out of a great race over a mile and a quarter.”
Luxembourg, a Group One champion at two, three and four, will line up for O’Brien in the Hong Kong Cup (2,000m) against the likes of local hero Romantic Warrior and Japanese return visitor Prognosis.
“He’s a very good horse,” O’Brien said of his four-year-old galloper with three top-level triumphs in tandem with Moore. “He was second in the Irish Champion [Stakes at Leopardstown], and he was going to go to the English Champion [Stakes at Ascot]. He got a foot bruise, and that put him out of that, [but] this was the race we always had our eye on.
“He’ll be leading over a mile and a quarter, I’d imagine, and hopefully, he runs well. It’ll be a nice race to watch. He’s a very good horse, Romantic Warrior. We totally respect every horse, really.”
Whereas Warm Heart and Luxembourg have won Group Ones, Cairo and Aesop’s Fables are still looking to break through in the highest grade. According to O’Brien, his Hong Kong Mile and Hong Kong Sprint (1,200m) representatives remain works in progress for whom this year’s contests may come too soon.
“He was second to Paddington, and then he had a long break,” O’Brien said of Cairo. “We were looking for a run to get him back, and he ran at Leopardstown in a Listed race on very soft ground. We thought he’d have to improve a lot from there. We think he has.
“We think the experience will do him good. He’s going to be a horse for next year as well. We’ll be delighted if he runs a nice race and comes forward. He has some very good form at his best, and we think he’s a horse we’ll see plenty of from here on in.
“Ryan says it’s going to be tough for a three-year-old sprinter, but he has progressed a lot in his past two runs,” O’Brien said of Aesop’s Fables.
“[We] put blinkers on him for the Abbaye, and it really stepped him up. He’s back to six [furlongs] after two runs over five [furlongs]. He’s a big, powerful horse. He will improve from three to four, [and] we think the experience will do him good.”
Warren Kennedy Has Plum Gr 1 Ride On Saturday
Habana Is Second Favourite For Saturday’s Gr 1 TAB Classic (Picture: Racing And Sports).
Warren Kennedy has a plum ride in Saturday’s Gr 1 NZ$400,000 TAB Classic at Trentham, which is the main racecourse in Wellington in New Zealand.
Kennedy is nine wins clear at the top of the NZ Premiership jockeys log and will be riding the Lance Noble-trained Zoustar five-year-old gelding Habana in the Classic.
Kennedy rode Habana in all of his four-year-old starts and has ridden him in all of his starts as a five-year-old.
His nine rides aboard the gelding have yieleded five wins, including a narrow Listed win over 1500m last time out at Pukekohe.
Kennedy has also ridden him to a Gr 3 second over 1600m and a Gr 3 third iver 1200m.
The tipping and statistical analysis of the race sees Habana emerging with the most numder of points.
He is the second favourite paying NZ$8 on the Tote to Aegon, who is paying NZ$5.
Aegon (Sacred Falls) was the Gr 1 NZ 2000 Guineas winner in 2020 and has won a Gr 2 and a Gr 3 in Australia.
Habana is drazwn well in six out of 17 runners.
Kennedy has had 58 wins this season and is nine clear of Irishman Joe Doyle.
Vaal Classic Formguides And Selections (Thursday Meeting)
Paulick: What I Learned At The Global Symposium On Racing
Snaith Treble, Domeyer/Bass-Robinson Double, Fayd'Herbe Double
Beranard Fayd’Herbe clinched a double for the day when winning on Innamorare, despite the saddle appearing to have slipped, and it gave Justin Snaith a treble (Picture: Wayne Marks)
Justin Snaith scored a treble at the ten race Hollywoodbets Kenilworth meeting today (Wednesday), while Aldo Domeyer and Candice Bass-Robinson combined for a double and Bernard Fayd’Herbe scored a double.
Snaith is now on 44 wins for the season scored at a strike rate of 11.86%.
Bass-Robinson is on 33 wins at 13.75%.
Domeyer is on 29 wins at 23.58%.
Fayd’Herbe is on 13 wins at 13.68%.
Today’s Question
The horse in question is pictured above (Picture: Reuters).
Midweek FIELDS
Hollywoodbets Kenilworth Fields, Wednesday
Today’s Question Answer
Goldikova (Anabaa) holds the record for Group 1 wins in Europe at eleven, nine in France and two in England. However, she is probably more famous for winning three Breeders Cup Miles.
