He who laughs last, laughs best. Something like that, anyway. It’s something that’s been proven time and time again throughout history and continues to be proven.
It’s proven all the time in horse racing when horses given absolutely no chance of winning get up and make monkeys out of those in the peanut gallery.
Some of us saw it last week at Shatin in the Sprint Cup when rank outsider Amazing Star ridden by Vagner Borges got up at 178-1 and gave the Brazilian jockey his biggest payday ever plus a Group 2 winner while giving everyone else in the game a shock to the system.
Photo by @wallacewanck
Frankly, many in racing wouldn’t know Vagner Borges from Victor Borges, but who had the last laugh here?
Photo by @wallacewanck
Borges is, at best, a journeyman jockey who’s been fortunate to be afforded the opportunity to ride in Hong Kong. The days of Hong Kong attracting “world class” riders are gone. How many “world class” jockeys are there these days, anyway?
When riding the world’s best equine talent for sheikh yer money makers, what’s going to bring the handful of riders riding out the end of their careers to a very different Hong Kong that’s nothing like the vibrant city it once was?
What’s going to take billionaire riders like Ryan Moore, Dettori and a handful more move out of their five star comfort zones? Think they need more money? To do what with? Count it?
Hong Kong recently rolled out the red carpet for Belgian superstar jockey Christophe Soumillon. It was a rickety couple of months with his stay plagued by quarantine rules, suspensions, missing out on riding a Group 1 winner for Japan, and though cobbling together a few winners, “Sumi” made it pretty clear that he wanted to be back with his family. He also knew that he didn’t have “a lock” on the better horses here ridden by Vincent Ho- Golden Sixty, especially- Zac Purton and Joao Moreira.
Those glory days of Christophe Soumillon jetting in to Hong Kong to ride gallopers for the enigmatic owner Pan Sutong are long gone. Many things are over and it’s about dealing with the fact that nothing lasts forever. Time changes everything. Let’s all have a good old singalong…
At a time when when the entire world is in a vaccination bubble and within this bubble are various mini bubbles including the racing bubble, one takes what’s given.
For riders like Vagner Borges, Ruia Maia, Antoine Hamelin and Tony Piccone, it’s meant opportunities. They’re hungry and they’ve seized these with both hands and are trying to make the most out of them.
It’s not unlike an unknown rider from South Africa via Mauritius arriving in Hong Kong and today being crowned the Mauritian Magician.
Photo by @wallacewanck
Perhaps not the prettiest rider to watch, but were former Champion Hong Kong jockeys Basil Marcus and Robbie Fradd?
What Karis Teetan does best is to forget competing in a beauty competition and instead focuses on riding winners. Damn the torpedoes and damn looking good for the cameras. Leave this to Brad Pitt.
Still with unknown riders, despite their reputations in South Africa, how many in Hong Kong had heard of Bartie Leisher or Douglas Whyte when they first started riding here? Or Zac Purton? Very few. Or, as some asked not that long ago, “Who’s the new Chinese rider named Blake Shinn?” Seriously.
There are quite a few here who think Jamie Kah is Malaysian. Now here’s someone, along with James McDonald, who are part of the new wave of Group 1 riders. They were both brilliant on Saturday at Randwick on the first day of The Championships.
With racing from Australia hardly shown here though the Randwick races was a rare simulcast shown here, how are those to know about a talent like Kah if not interested enough to find out?
There’s much more to that last line than might first meet the eye.
Other than Hugh Bowman, Tommy Berry, Damien Lane, Sammy Clipperton and Tim Clark, who have all ridden in Hong Kong at one time or another, names like Kah, Jye McNeil, Daniel Stackhouse, Luke Currie etc and even “J-Mac” are pretty much unknown.
“Old timers” might remember Australian riders Damien Oliver, Craig Williams and Glen Boss, but possibly not with too much love.
What many racing executives everywhere forget too quickly is the importance of winning over the trust of the grassroots racing fans.
Armed with social media, they’re allowed to ask the hard questions that the often very malleable racing media cannot or won’t do. And the relevance of much of today’s racing media is cause for pause and some hard questions.
Those who fly through social media often does a better job and also cause a negative ripple effect for racing and which doesn’t bode well for attracting sponsors and expanding that ageing customer base. Racing goes back to being The Seventies Show.
In Hong Kong, the powerful Chinese racing media works with its ear to the ground. Whether right or wrong, they think they know it all. They don’t need Twitter to tell them anything. They have their own Deep Throats strategically located.
Their news travels faster than bad fung shui on steroids via Chinese online platforms like Weibo with its many millions of netizens.
What should also matter is who the local racing fans warm to and why.
More often than not, it’s seeing who, to them, is constantly giving one hundred percent effort in all their rides. Everyone loves a trier.
There’s also that certain likability factor that comes into play and then celebrating and promoting the successes of their favourites.
All this is the best and most effective advertising for racing.
It’s been proven many times over in Hong Kong that the best rider isn’t always the most popular.
Think about the popularity here of Olivier Doleuze when he was still riding. And whatever he might have done that was off kilter, the popularity of Gerald Mosse.
These grassroots racing fans are nothing like those who belong to The Exclusive Big Owners Face Club and their fawning enablers.
These are dyed in the wool racing fans who enjoy being allowed to go to the races, take photos of their favourite hobby- the excitement and camaraderie that’s part of horse racing- share these online and maybe meet their racing heroes.
Ruan Maia, and Vagner Borges may not be household names. They’re far from being “world class”. Some couldn’t believe when they were given licenses to ride here.
The important thing is that they’re triers. They’re starting to ride winners regularly, and especially Ruan Maia, already has a strong following here.
Photo by @wallacewanck
Who’s having the last laugh now, especially at the naysayers?
What Hong Kong racing has always done is make good, and even average riders, better. It’s something to be proud of considering the paucity of world class equine talent- a city that doesn’t have farms and horses for people to ride, let alone a breeding industry.
The competitiveness to be the very best and live the six star Rock Star lifestyle some enjoy here while paying chump change in taxes has much to do with those doing everything possible to keep riding the gravy train.
There’s something else. With all the competitiveness involved, any jockey cannot help but pick up survival instincts and understand different business interests and the importance of networking. It serves them well when their racing careers come to an end.
Personally speaking, and from the outside looking in, what Hong Kong racing needs is more teamwork and less where too many are walking on eggshells and fearful of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Fear can manifest in other ways- and none of it much good for anyone or racing.
At a time when the world is undergoing so many changes, surely it’s about those involved in helping create the best possible racing product coming together- the Club, the leading jockeys and trainers.
You know, a Made In Hong Kong racing product in sync with the times and those responsible for creating this helping by contributing to the whole enchilada and char siu bao.
If for any reason this doesn’t gel for anyone whose well paid job is to make things work, well, why not leave? Simple.
The less clutter, negativity, singing the same old song, lousy reportage and crying wolf, the better.
There’s a need for teamwork to rebuild fences, and not always looking at ways of tearing them down even before they go up.
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