Buoyed by positive responses from Hong Kong owners, Brett Crawford is eyeing a dream start to his new venture when the prominent South African trainer starts Speedy Smartie at Sunday’s season opener at Sha Tin.

Crawford, who has won 38 Group Ones and almost 1,500 races throughout his career, is the only addition to the Hong Kong training ranks for the 2025-26 season.

Speedy Smartie – one of 25 gallopers on Crawford’s books – will be the handler’s only runner on Sunday and the former Benno Yung Tin-pang-trained gelding is fresh from a trial win on the Sha Tin dirt last week.

“He trialled pretty well and he’s come out of it well, so it looks like he’s ready to go,” said Crawford, who also celebrates his 54th birthday on Sunday.

Crawford built a reputation as one of South Africa’s better big-race trainers, with his Group One successes including back-to-back victories in the country’s most prestigious feature, the Durban July, in 2023-24.

However, he faces the challenge of starting his stable from scratch and recruiting horses from Hong Kong and overseas owners.

“It hasn’t been easy, putting yourself out there in strange territory and unknown to everybody,” Crawford said.

“But I must say the owners here are more than willing to speak to you and make a decision after they’ve met with you, so that’s encouraging to get an opportunity.

“We’ve got 25 horses at the moment. There are a couple that I think are in their right classes. A lot of them were racing until the end of last season, so we’ve just freshened them up and got them going again.

“There are a few that have dropped in rating and look like they can bounce back. If we can turn them around, I’m sure there are a few we can have a bit of fun with.”

Since being unveiled by the Jockey Club in February, Crawford has been busy heeding the advice of Hong Kong’s many expat trainers, as well as South Africans Tony Millard and David Ferraris, who had successful training stints in Hong Kong.

One familiar face at Sha Tin is jockey Karis Teetan, who was Crawford’s stable jockey for several years before making the move to Hong Kong in 2013.

“Karis has been doing a lot of work for me since he’s come back from holiday and obviously he and I have worked closely in the past, so he’ll be riding a few, no doubt,” Crawford said.

“Zac [Purton] trialled one for me and I’m sure if they’re good enough, he’ll get on them. Lyle Hewitson, Keagan de Melo and Jerry Chau [Chun-lok] have also done some work for me.

“I think Hong Kong’s spoiled for talented riders, so I don’t think you’re ever falling short if you don’t get the one you really wanted. I’m sure we’ll have good relationships with most of them.”

The Zimbabwe-born Crawford isn’t setting himself any definitive goals for his first campaign in Hong Kong.

“I think for me it’s just about getting the best out of every horse I have in front of me, whether that be making him improve in Class Five or making him improve in Class Three,” he said.

“If they’ve been out of form and we can turn it around, that would show we’re on the right track. It’s just about seeing them run well and getting some winners on the board.”