Hong Kong racing: a tradition of sportsmanship, dedication and fighting spirit
The city has always punched above its weight on the global stage and generations of home-grown racing stars have done the same
Many of these top jockeys and horse trainers have come to the city over the years to take part in numerous international competitions, including 12 of the globe’s most prestigious Group One races.
Four of them will take place at Sha Tin’s much anticipated Longines Hong Kong International Races on December 8 – four days after the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship at Happy Valley, showcasing the city’s leading role as a centre for racing excellence.
Hong Kong boasts an international ecosystem of racing talent, with overseas jockeys racing in the city including Zac Purton, Hugh Bowman, Karis Teetan, Lyle Hewitson, Alexis Badel, Luke Ferraris and Andrea Atzeni. Notably, nearly half of the riders are home-grown, having graduated from the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.
Here we take a look at some of the jockeys and trainers from the city that have helped to shape racing, both locally and abroad.
Tony Cruz: from groundbreaking jockey to champion trainer
Cruz led the way for local jockeys during racing’s formative years of the 1970s, and he has continued to break new ground in his role as a trainer. When he first devoted his life to horse racing – just as his father, Johnny, a renowned jockey during Hong Kong’s amateur era, had done before him – the sport was still in its infancy in the city.
In 1972, at the age of 14, Cruz was part of the first intake of hopefuls at the Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School, but his talent shone even then. His illustrious career saw him ride the first of his 946 winners when he was only 17.
By the time Cruz retired from the saddle, at the end of the 1994-95 season, he had claimed six jockey championships while riding some of the city’s greatest horses, including Hong Kong Derby winners Co-Tack (1983) and Makapura Star (1995). He had also helped to raise the global profile of Hong Kong racing in Europe by successfully competing on Triptych at top-class races in England, Ireland and France in the 1980s.
In 1996, Cruz, who is now 67, turned his focus to becoming both a trainer and a supporter of Hong Kong’s next generation of jockeys. He has won two trainers’ titles, in 1999-00 and again in 2004-05, while working with champion racehorses such as Silent Witness, and continuing to guide the city’s young riders.
“Hong Kong has always attracted the best trainers and jockeys and racing professionals,” Cruz says. “That’s why it’s challenging when you are competing with the best in the business – locally and [from] overseas. You always have to be dedicated to your profession if you want to succeed – but I am absolutely happy to be a trainer here in Hong Kong.”
Matthew Chadwick and Vincent Ho: stars of today’s racing scene
The most high-profile of Cruz’s proteges is Matthew Chadwick, who followed in Cruz’s footsteps as an apprentice before joining the veteran horseman’s stable.
Chadwick, 34, has now won more than 500 races, but his career in the sport started almost by chance. His mother thought she had signed up her son for a summer camp, only to discover she had enrolled him on a rigorous training course at the Apprentice Jockeys’ School, where he excelled.
“We didn’t have any plans for that summer, so we decided to go for it,” Chadwick says of his start in racing. “It was just a choice we had to make – whether or not to take this road and try it out. [Tony Cruz] obviously saw something in me and took me under his wing.”
By the end of the 2008-09 season, Chadwick had claimed the champion apprentice title with 43 wins. At the end of the 2021-22 season, he had secured the Tony Cruz Award – presented to the leading local rider – and his star as a jockey has continued to rise.
Vincent Ho, 34, is another local hero and graduate of the Apprentice Jockeys’ School. As a testament to the excellence that the school nurtures and promotes in apprentices, he marked his debut in the 2009-10 season with 10 victories and has since developed into one of racing’s most exciting global talents.
Ho’s connection with the recently retired racehorse Golden Sixty – the world’s highest-earning racehorse – captured the hearts of racegoers everywhere as they went on to win 26 races together, including the Hong Kong Derby and three Hong Kong Miles.
The jockey has now become the dominant local rider, with a career-high 96 wins during the 2022-23 season, and success in winning his first Longines International Jockeys’ Championship in December 2023, which saw him beat some of the world’s best jockeys.
All that was achieved despite two injuries he suffered last season following mishaps in Japan and Sha Tin. “I’m definitely targeting more improvement than last season, which wasn’t an easy season, but that’s the risk we take as jockeys,” he says. “I’m always looking to do the best I can.”
He is always eager to represent the best of Hong Kong when riding overseas. “There’s always more to be learned when it comes to riding horses,” Ho says. “Riding overseas is very different to here, even the routine and racing environment. I had a good experience, lots of driving which was pretty tiring but it was great,” he says of his off-season experiences in Europe and Japan, at arenas such as Goodwood, Pontefract, Düsseldorf and Sapporo.
Britney Wong: an inspiration for young women
The Club’s Racing Trainee Programme has also supported Britney Wong, who has just entered the local ranks after two seasons successfully developing her skills while riding in Australia, where she competed in 600 races and secured 50 wins and 125 placings.
“[To] finally get the chance to ride in my hometown … really means a lot to me,” she says. “I hope I will be a part of the history [of Hong Kong racing]. Hong Kong is the top-class racing [location] in the world, and I’ll try my best to just enjoy it,” she says.
Wong, 25, celebrated her first Hong Kong win in September at Sha Tin in only her third meeting and has since added three further victories. She is the first woman jockey to be competing full-time in Hong Kong since Kei Chiong Ka-kei retired in 2017.
“These days, so many women riders have come a long way and hopefully I can … try to attract more younger women to try to chase their dreams,” Wong says.
She understands that success in racing requires hard work and dedication, regardless of one’s gender. “Besides being a jockey, I also want to learn more of the training side,” she says. “It will definitely help with my riding, too.”
Pierre Ng and Frankie Lor: local trainers leading the charge
There is also a new generation of Hongkongers who have followed Cruz’s lead in transforming themselves from riders and jockeys into successful trainers.
Pierre Ng started his career in the Club’s system as a work rider for his father Peter Ng’s stable before working with the likes of Francis Liu, under whom he helped to guide Golden Sixty’s remarkable career.
When he became a trainer in 2022 – the first local since 2018 to be promoted from the assistant training ranks – Ng described it as a “dream come true” to carry on a family tradition. By then, he had also gained overseas experience studying leading stables in Japan, the United States and Australia through a comprehensive training programme offered by the Club.
By his second season he was vying for the trainers’ title with Liu, his former mentor, only to fall short by just one victory after ending the season with 69 winners. By the start of this season, Ng had amassed 110 wins, at an impressive strike rate of 9.5 per cent, to firmly establish himself as one of local racing’s genuine stars, who will continue to drive the sport’s future in Hong Kong.
Ng’s meteoric rise mirrors that of Frankie Lor, who also grew up with the racing tradition in his blood as the son of a groom. A full-time trainer since the 2017-18 season, he started his racing career as a jockey in 1981. He secured 27 victories before changing course to help train horses following the 1994-95 season. After working with two of Hong Kong racing’s great trainers, Australians John Moore and John Size, Lor gained his full trainers’ licence just before the 2017-18 season.
He claimed his first trainers title with 90 victories during the 2012-22 season and has worked with outstanding turf champions including Hong Kong Derby winner Furore and Hong Kong Sprint winner Mr Stunning.
Lor’s success has been hailed as one of the great Hong Kong sporting stories of modern times and he forms a strengthening group of local trainers that has supported new generations of apprentices on the track over the years.
In July, the 2023-24 racing season finale at Sha Tin attracted 30,000 racegoers, and that buzz among Hongkongers seems likely to continue during the current season. Twelve jockeys – including defending champion Ho – are preparing for the forthcoming Longines International Jockeys’ Championship, while many others are getting ready for the four Group One races of the Longines Hong Kong International Races.
This means that racing fans can look forward to even more iconic moments, demonstrating the passion, dedication and fighting spirit of the jockeys and trainers who have secured Hong Kong’s place at the heights of global racing.