SA players make a great start to the season
Former South African galloper Cerise Cherry won the traditional opening-day feature of the Hong Kong racing season, the HKSAR Chief Executive Cup, following up on his second last year.
Jockey Zac Purton gave the eight-year-old a perfect ride and he saw off Best Eleven by just under a length, with a gap back to favourite Destined For Glory (Dougie Whyte).
“Cerise Cherry was the first horse I rang for when I got back to Hong Kong this season,” Purton said.
Trainer Tony Cruz will again take a path towards the Longines Hong Kong Sprint with underrated Cerise Cherry, who took his earnings past HK$13 million.
SA-trained Mauritian Karis Teetan, nicknamed “The Mauritian Magician” won on his very first ride of his contract in Hong Kong, booting David Ferraris-trained Amazing Always to victory in the season’s opener.
“That was an amazing feeling,” Teetan said. “The crowd were going wild, they already knew my name and were yelling it out and I threw my goggles into the crowd. I promise you I will never forget that moment.”
Ferraris had no hesitation putting the 23-year-old on Amazing Always, with the young jockey having impressed in a short stint as stable rider for his father, legendary Johannesburg-based handler Ormond Ferraris.
“I asked my dad and he told me he is a nice kid, he is a lightweight but he is strong,” Ferraris said, comparing the youngster’s positive and polite attitude to apprentices of old. “I know he is young, but he is like the old-school apprentices. The respect he shows, like Dougie Whyte was at that age. And that’s what you need here, you can’t rub trainers up the wrong way.”
Having come through the ranks of the Jockey’s Academy in Durban, Teetan said he looked up to Whyte and Felix Coetzee – not only for their on-track exploits, but their off-track behaviour.
“The academy drums it into you, you go to school there – they teach you so many things there other than riding; like respect and self-discipline. If you want to be a professional you must show respect. When it is time to work, it’s time to work. I strive to respect those above me.
“You look at those South African guys who have come here, like Dougie and Felix – they are well-spoken, and we’ve all looked up to them and learned.”
Whyte did not go home empty-handed from the meeting, having won Race 4 on Clement Spirit.
– South China Morning Post
