Once upon a Mandrake, it was all about the Magic Man. He could do no wrong and could conjure up wizardry rides at the drop of a rabbit.
Then, things got far more interesting with the Zac and Joao Show before this became too predictable when Hong Kong horse racing was forced into becoming quite a bland television product.
Then, it became all about Zac, The Influencer taking over especially at Happy Valley which he owns with the occasional cameo appearance by the Magic Man.
Happy to be travelling under the radar has been another magician- the Mauritian Magician- Karis Teetan.
Leaving behind the brilliant four-timer at Shatin on Saturday, the hugely popular rider with everyone is right up there.
With regular doubles and trebles, he has deposed Joao Moreira as the only Jockey riding in Hong Kong who can offer the unstoppable Zac Attack with competition.
He rides light, and he gives every ride 200 percent. Especially on television, it’s not difficult to notice.
Trainers want him because they trust him to deliver the goods and owners want him on their horses because they can see that he does everything possible to win whereas racing fans appreciate his positivity.
No one has a bad word to say about him. That’s a rarity in Hong Kong.
Karis Teetan arrived in Hong Kong a complete unknown, but this quickly changed when he won his first ride in the city and in the first race of the 2013-14 racing season aboard Amazing Always trained by David Ferraris.
By the way, interestingly, none of the horses gone to other trainers following the decision by “Darth” to call curtains to his career and return to South Africa have won a race. Hmmmm.
Will there be a story about this?
As for the Mauritian Magician, his career keeps going higher and higher like a Jacky Wilson song, which begs this question: Where’s Joao Moreira going? And will Size matter?
There are at least three ways this question might be answered.
