Apart from riding skills, one of the greatest assets a jockey or a trainer must have is ensuring their popularity is intact and needing to be great PR people. After all, in a competitive environment like Hong Kong, one can take nothing for advantage and the gift of the gab and manly and expensive cologne can go a long way.
Some of us have seen Dougie Whyte at work, off the track, and he really is the best at “working it.” If he had a booty, he would be Beyonce and the way he goes after rides and his daily schedule is worked out with pinpoint punctuality. If he says he’ll meet you at 4.30pm, he’ll be there at 4.20. If you get there at 4.31, he’ll be hurt and despondent. It’s like standing up a blind date. He’s part jockey, part businessman and part old woman which is why he has been Hong Kong Champion Jockey for twelve consecutive seasons.
Anyone in racing and they’ll tell you just what a disciplined and highly professional individual he is. Call him and if busy, he’ll return your call as quickly as he can. Text him and you get a reply within seconds. It’s a winning formula which Zac Purton has picked up on and, along with his considerable riding talent, it’s paying off.
Same with trainers like Caspar Fownes and Tony Cruz, both local boys, fluent in Cantonese, and heroes to many Hong Kong Belongers with very easy going personalities on the outside, sharp on the inside whereas Richard Gibson has learnt quickly how to pick and choose his horses and his owners.
Watching him- and the Durban Turban- after the win of Gold-Fun with owner Pan Su-tong was a superb exercise in ass-kissing.
And if you knew Mr Pan who also owns the highly rated and extremely expensive purchase in the unraced Akeed Mofeed, well, you’d be making loud sucking sounds, too. What’s the bet Dougie Whyte will also be riding this horse. After posing for the winning photos, I thought the Dougie was going to mount Mr. Pan. It’s nothing sexual, it’s just business and kissing the right asses in order to ride good horses going somewhere.
If, however, content to be a moody, thin-skinned, non-communicative knob, you lose the support of the racing media, especially the Chinese racing media, which has enormous clout with local owners- and their mates- and you are drop-kicked and become another “hard working jockey” who gets the occasional crumbs thrown his way, but is never able to get high up the jockeys social ladder and is sold short.
This is where the Whytes, the Purtons, Mosses and Prebbles have it over the others: They dress well, they speak well- yes, the gift of the gab- and they know what to say and when and how to play the game. They don’t have shit for brains. This is why, I can see a few jockeys currently in Hong Kong not having that Eveready Energizer lasting power to make a reasonable dent in this city and staying on for the long run.
One jockey who has quickly won over the Chinese media and local racing fans- especially young girls who get their knickers in a twist when they see him- is the baby-faced Umberto Rispoli. He has that typical Italian flamboyance plus riding extremely well and booting home winners.
He rode another double on Sunday and might only have a handful of rides at Happy Valley tomorrow night, but could still be amongst the winners with Golden Harvest in Race 2, Kowloon East King in Race 6 and Legend Express in the last. Though riding very successfully and primarily for Tony Millard whose stable is on fire these days, the affable Rispoli is becoming more and more in demand with different trainers.Though I doubt he’ll be getting many/any rides from John Moore, John Size or “Hally”, watch him be used far more than he is by other top trainers like Tony Cruz and Caspar Fownes.
His one stumbling block is not being in Hong Kong for the entire season and these short stints are possibly something that need to be looked at as there is really no point in a rider becoming associated with a horse and then having to say, Adieu, mes amis. There’s a slight Pepe Le Pew whiff to this modus operandus which is a bit like coitus interuptus. BUT, while, here, owners, especially, will demand his services and he’ll make hay while the sun shines even though the weather today is decidedly dreary.
Still with tomorrow night’s racing, my old “Casibah” Fownes must have been pulling out the few hairs he has left on his head when seeing the wide barrier draws some of his better chances had received for Xmas.
Forget jockeys, they’d need Santa’s sled and reindeer to get them into any winning positions.
Still, with the weather looking dodgy and racing taking place on the tricky C course where things might start one way and end up another, who knows if horses drawn out wide and able to thunder down the outside might hold an advantage later on in the night?
All in all, it’s an average looking card with the highlight being the running of the Hong Kong Trophy which looks like being a two-horse race between Arrived Ahead and Charles The Great. There is also a Six Up and Triple Trio jackpot and when there are bonuses like these, turnover will be up though the crappy weather might not help attendance figures by keeping the Happy Wednesday crowd more happy staying at home and watching the races on telly. One thing before I forget: Those musical sounds emanating from The Beer Garden don’t translate well when heard ‘live’ on computers while some of the song choices are a tad surreal. Just give us some Adele and Top 40 hits and forget the eclectic crap.
Looking at the card, I like nothing in races 1,2 and 4 while having some time for Endowing in Race 3 along with Regency Winner and the average Travel Brand, Charles The Great in race 5, Flashing Guy and Kowloon East King in Race 6, a couple of outsiders in race 7 and where Rumba King backs up after running second on the dirt track over the weekend. Guess its owner wants to try and get his money back. In a very open race, there’s Racing Hero, Legend Express and, perhaps, Peri Peri Saffron to consider. Peri Peri could be getting peri peri close to a win or just peri peri tired going around and around and eating the same Peri Peri Saffron dish.
Frankly, I’ll have a shot at the Six Up and chill out at Adrenaline where two-legged winners are much easier to find and then a late night out at the late night Jazz club Gecko in Wyndham Street where there are usually even more winners.
The Guru
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