For those who weren’t at Sha Tin last Sunday, it might surprise you who got the biggest cheer in the parade ring.
It wasn’t champion horses Romantic Warrior or Voyage Bubble, nor their riders James McDonald or Zac Purton – it was a jockey with the fewest wins of any active rider: Dylan Mo Hing-tung.
Among what the marketing people call the ‘customer segments’ at Sha Tin Racecourse, those who populate the parade ring seats are perhaps the least sentimental of all.
The newspaper formguides in their hands tell you they are there to bet. The most common noise from the regulars over the years is a low moan of displeasure, or at worst Cantonese expletives.
Even retirement ceremonies for past champions rarely drew much response. Indifference summed up the reaction when Able Friend or his stablemate Designs On Rome were presented to the crowd in 2017.
Times are changing. Ceremonies for the likes of Golden Sixty, and to honour the achievements of Ka Ying Rising or Romantic Warrior, have been warmly received. There has also been a shift where the courage and bravery of jockeys has been recognized, and there has been less vitriol towards those beaten on favorites.
On Sunday, ahead of the Group 1 Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup, a loud – and proud – cheer emerged as Winning Wing passed the crowd with Mo aboard.
Mo has only had 76 rides from the first 51 meetings of the season for four wins – and three of those victories have been on Winning Wing.
Trainer Francis Lui King-wai has likely been fielding calls from top jockeys asking for the ride, but thus far he and owner Johnny Yau Ying-chuen have stuck with the Hong Kong local.
The loyalty and underdog nature of the story has clearly struck a chord. It was Mo’s first Group 1 ride and he finished third, a result that will further endear him to the hardcore fans.
The ‘locals only’ trend has grown. Lui’s Golden Sixty was the best example – the horse ridden throughout his incredible 31-start career by Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.
Ho has found another standout in Classic Mile winner Little Paradise, who was unplaced in last Sunday’s Classic Cup. There was a time not long ago when that would have meant a call-up to a foreign jockey was imminent. Not anymore – Little Paradise’s owner Ko Kam-piu stated publicly that Ho would ride his horse in the 2026 BMW Hong Kong Derby. Back when Little Paradise’s trainer Jimmy Ting Koon-ho won the Classic Mile 26 years ago – then known as the Derby Trial – he lost the ride to a foreign rider anyway, because “that was just how things worked.”
Also seemingly safe for the Derby on a leading hope is Derek Leung Ka-chun aboard Numbers. Eight years ago Leung lost the ride on Beauty Generation to Zac Purton just two races after winning a Group 1. Leung had executed a tactical change that unlocked Beauty Generation’s greatness and he had won three from five on the horse.
Will Mo keep the ride on Winning Wing? The raucous cheers last Sunday suggest the famously unsentimental punters at Sha Tin sure hope he does.
For a crowd known for cold judgement, it was a warm moment. The cheer wasn’t about odds, it was about loyalty – and a local getting his chance.
The reception also spoke to something bigger. Hong Kong racing is finally being seen as more than a four-legged lottery. On Sunday, the parade ring didn’t just cheer for a champion – it roared for the story.
