Lyle Hewitson: so near, yet so far

Just a few short years on from failing to have his Hong Kong licence renewed – after a nightmare run of form – South African jockey Lyle Hewitson was duelling it out with the best riders in the world in that very same city.

Hewitson eventually finished in fourth place among the 12 superstar riders contesting Wednesday’s International Jockey Challenge (IJC) at Happy Valley – narrowly edged by local hero Vincent Ho, perennial Hong Kong champion and Aussie Zac Purton and rising British-Australian talent Rachel King.

This quartet galloped clear of such luminaries as Ryan Moore, Tom Marquand, Hollie Doyle, Mickael Barzalona, James McDonald and Yuga Kawada.

Lyle Hewitson

Hewitson posted two seconds and a third in the first three of the four Challenge races – for which rides were determined by ballot – and was in with a very real chance of scooping the honours of a huge trophy and cheque for HK$600,000 (R1.45-million).

But the final leg saw the former South African champion finish downfield on a 10-1 chance as Ho grabbed victory aboard 7-1 shot Tomadachi Kokoroe – leapfrogging from fifth place on the log to first.

“Oh, I won it? OK. Good. Of course, I’m happy. I didn’t know about the score,” said a surprised Ho when informed of his feat.

Rachel King got the contest going in her first Hong Kong ride in Leg 1, aboard Oversubscribed (10-1). Leg 2 went the way of Moore and Leg 3 to Purton.

The IJC was the curtain raiser to Sunday’s Longines Hong Kong International Races (HKIR) – one of the most prestigious race meetings on the planet, staged at the city’s other racecourse, Sha Tin.

The HKIR four Grade 1 events – the Sprint, Mile, Vase and Cup – have attracted elite fields from around the globe.

Singapore

Irish maestro trainer Aiden O’Brien has shipped in four horses: Aesop’s Fables, Cairo, Luxembourg and Warm Heart. French legend Andre Fabre raids with Junko and Tribalist, UAE-based Simon Crisford saddles West Wind Blows and a phalanx of Japanese trainers are plotting a clean sweep.

One poignant runner in the Mile is Dan Meager-trained Lim’s Kosiuszko, Singapore’s champion racehorse and likely to be that country’s last representative abroad, with racing in the enclave due to be shut down next year.

The Mile looks the most interesting race on the card, not least because it’s the likely swansong of Hong Kong’s “people’s horse” Golden Sixty. This seven-year-old has won 25 of his 29 starts, is a three-time HK Horse of the Year and was ranked No 1 in the world earlier this year.

Golden Sixty will be ridden by none other than new IJC champ Vincent Ho, who will have to be on his mettle to beat the aforementioned Cairo, Tribalist and a Japanese runner or five.

With glamorous visiting yards flying in big-name stable jockeys for the day, the South African riding contingent in Hong Kong – Hewitson, Luke Ferraris and Keagan de Melo – haven’t cracked a nod for Sunday’s four Grade 1s, though SA Jockey Academy-schooled Mauritian Karis Teetan gets a ride on Duke Wai in the Sprint for local conditioner Pierre Ng.