Sam Agars, below, is a workmanlike racing writer, and having to constantly produce racing news for English-speaking Hong Kong readers of the South China Morning Post couldn’t be easy.
Still, going out on a limb this week to say that the Hong Kong Jockey Club should definitely look at bringing Christophe Soumillon to the city is very much off the mark. But hats off to Sam for putting his nuts on the wicket.
The Belgian rider has always been a pretty divisive character in racing. Anyone remember the fracas with Georgie Porgy Moore some years ago at Al’s Diner, one time home of RS Dye in Lan Kwai Fong, and which spilled over into somewhere in Tsimshatsui and a head butt?
His recent senseless decision to elbow Rossa Ryan off his mount has been documented to the nth degree, and there’s no point covering old ground.
All one can say is that despite the apology, Christophe Soumillon is very lucky to get away with a two month ban- and being fired by the Aga Khan.
More to the point is that the last time Soumillon was in Hong Kong, he whinged to all and sundry about not enjoying riding at Happy Valley and the “slow horses” in Hong Kong.
Though understanding that Hong Kong is not the racing jurisdiction it once was, bringing Christophe Soumillon back by throwing more money his way isn’t going to fix this problem.
Instead of rolling out the red carpet for him to return and ride “slow horses”, what might be more prudent would be showing appreciation and confidence to those already here by offering a bigger playing field and more winning opportunities- riders like Luke Ferraris, Lyle Hewitson and excellent Made In Hong Kong talent like Matthew Chadwick, Vincent Ho, Derek Leung and “The Poon Train”.
Let’s also not forget that even Douglas Whyte, Zac Purton, Karis Teetan and João Moreira were hardly household names when first arriving in Hong Kong.
Through their hard work came more opportunities, success helped breed success and all this created one of the world’s best and richest international racing jurisdictions. This became a magnet. The magnet is no longer working because the city is in the middle of a strange Covid-related political foxtrot.
The hierarchy at the Hong Kong Jockey Club and its enthusiastic new A Team of hires should wake up, smell the dim sum, understand the mood of the city, know the usual game of Chinese Whispers, and how the focus should be on enhancing the “customer experience” in Hong Kong- the city- and Hong Kong racing.
No one said it would be easy and even Don Draper would find this brief difficult.
Right now, the racing is all rather masked up and dreary, much like the city itself.
Also needed is a strategy for horse racing to be seen as an integral part of sports entertainment in Hong Kong.
This means convincing the government why it should not keep one of the most popular leisure time activities in its separate little box for another few decades while making millions in taxes on betting.
Times change. So do people and so must ways of doing business.
Excluding horse racing in the government’s comeback plans for a city trying to claw itself back from oblivion and attract international tourism is downright silly and guided by terminal tunnel vision.
