It was a pretty messy looking race with some of the riders looking like drunken sailors out to paint the town red and blue, but, thankfully, at least one cool head prevailed and Lyle Hewitson rode his own race on Durham Star and easily won the last race of the night at Happy Valley on Wednesday.
Trained by Douglas Whyte, the combination of these two South Africans from different generations is real sorcerer and apprentice stuff- the wily champion Hong Kong jockey for thirteen consecutive years and a young rider who’s taking everything in his stride, learning all the time and delivering the goods.
Whatever Hong Kong might be today as a city, it’s always been a great School Of Life to those interested in learning.
In horse racing, when having to ride against superstar jockeys like Zac Purton and Joao Moreira at every race meeting, it’s the best on-the-job training for world class competitive racing.
It’s learning from the good, yes, and also the bad and the ugly. Lyle Hewitson seems to be revelling in it.
Would it be easy riding for a tough hard master like Douglas Whyte? In any business, it’s never easy riding for a perfectionist and someone who knows what he wants.
In the racing game, there’s seldom been someone as demanding, focused and determined to succeed as the former champion jockey.
This will to succeed on his own terms must be the reason why he has stopped completely using his former apprentice Jerry Chau. Chau would, I am sure, admit that he wouldn’t be where he is today if not for everything he learned from Whyte.
Having ridden for master trainers like Ivan Allan, Tony Cruz, John Size, John Moore and Lindsay Smith when he was in Perth, learned life lessons from Monty Roberts aka The Horse Whisperer plus riding against such legendary talent as Gerald Mosse, the enigmatic Eric Saint Martin, Christophe Soumillon, Darren Beadman, Felix Coetzee, Brett Prebble, Zac Purton, Joao Moreira et al, Lyle Hewitson is reaping the rewards of all this priceless experience being passed onto him.
Many in the Hong Kong Chinese racing media see him as “the next Douglas Whyte”. This might be selling the young jockey somewhat short.
He’s his own man and, sure, he has much to be thankful for by being the current go-to jockey for Douglas Whyte.
What we are seeing is teamwork and a team that has clicked, could go the distance and create opportunities for themselves and individually in ways that the racing world has yet to see. And here, I don’t just mean wearing salmon pink jackets...
As mentioned many times, there’s a changing of the guard taking place in horse racing, and in the world we find ourselves in today.
Those who will be part of the future of this brave new world need to be a different breed, or intuitively know how and when to change with the times.
The parents of Lyle Hewitson insisted that he first finish his education, and then see if being in horse racing was the career path he wanted to take. It was.
Though there are still years of learning to go before being recognised as a world class rider, he has time on his side. Much could and will happen in this time.
Personally speaking, and not really knowing him very well- but well enough- Lyle Hewitson has everything going for him that surpasses being “only” a jockey.
He appears destined to be game changer in the rapidly evolving world of horse racing.
He might not see it right now, but he will when he comes face to face with where in horse racing his future might lie.
Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy following his journey while continuing to create and fine tune one’s own career path and life plan.
It’s always always always about never settling for Okay being good enough.
That would be way too easy.
Stay hungry. Believe. And don’t follow leaders and watch your parking meters.
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