Jerry Chau Chun-lok is still looking for his first winner of the season, but 24 rides without one has not given last season’s Tony Cruz Award winner much reason to panic.
He was hardly flying at this stage 12 months ago either. Chau managed only two winners from 27 rides last September before nine followed across October and November and another 17 through January and February. By season’s end he had climbed to fifth on the jockeys’ ladder on 48 wins, the best return among Hong Kong’s homegrown riders.
A sizable part of that success came from horses he developed productive partnerships with. Emblazon supplied five wins from 10 rides, Flying Wrote three from 11, Stormi three and Lucky Sam Gor another three. Between them, those four accounted for 14 of Chau’s 48 winners, or 29 per cent.
That also presents the challenge this season. Winning horses rise in the ratings, so Chau needs either new allies to emerge or last season’s regulars to keep improving.
Flying Wrote is firmly in the latter camp.
The six-year-old impressed Chau in a recent Conghua trial before Wednesday’s Class 3 1,200m, although a rise through the handicap means he now lumps a lot of weight from barrier four.
“I think at this stage, with the big weights, he is struggling a bit, but we have a good draw and that helps,” Chau told The Standard. “And he’s just starting to get a feel for Hong Kong racing too, in my opinion.
“He did well last season, obviously, and I think there is still some improvement in him.”
Francis Lui Kin-wai’s Superb King is another Chau believes can help get his season moving.
The five-year-old remains a Hong Kong maiden after 16 starts, but five seconds and a third tell a rather different story. Chau feels 1,000m gives him his best chance of finally breaking through because he has a little more left late over the minimum trip than at 1,200m.
“Last time we had barrier 12 and raced wide, but my horse was strong to the line. I am very happy with him,” he said. “Georgian Sigma looks a real danger, and Caspar’s horse who beat me last start, Jumbo Blessing, has top weight. We have the draw advantage, so I hope that works in our favor.”
Chau also reunites with Cody Mo Wai-kit’s 10-start maiden Friends Of Shajing, who backs up after a luckless run last week under Vincent Ho Chak-yiu.
“Not a very nice draw again, but it is still better than last week,” Chau said. “He’s very competitive in Class 4. Even though he was doing well in Class 3, Class 4 is probably where he will get his win this season.”
David Eustace supplies three of Chau’s eight rides. The pair combined 59 times for eight wins last season, and fortune has at least smiled on them at the barrier draw this week: Red Brick Warrior starts from gate one, Akermanis Gold from two and Inno Super from three.
Akermanis Gold produced his best Hong Kong run at the end of last season, and a recent trial left Chau believing the five-year-old is ready to go on from it.
Chau finishes the night aboard Pegas and Fivefortwo. He had already committed to Lui’s Fivefortwo before Danny Shum Chap-shing’s Without Compare was confirmed for the same race.
