-
IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
Hong Kong Horse Racing From 2021 : SG
- Thread starter HorLee
- Start date
One of the worst race falls in living memory marred Hong Kong’s showcase international meeting at Sha Tin racecourse on Sunday.
Reigning champion jockey Zac Purton from Australia, South African rider Lyle Hewitson and visiting Japanese Yuichi Fukunaga were taken to nearby Prince of Wales Hospital after the horror incident in the Group One Hong Kong Sprint. All three were conscious throughout the ordeal and on Sunday night were reported to be in a stable condition.
The incident began when rank outsider Amazing Star came down under 24-year-old Hewitson at the head of the field as the runners cornered for home, creating a concertina effect that brought down Purton, 38, on favourite Lucky Patch, Karis Teetan, 31, aboard Naboo Attack and 45-year-old Fukunaga on Japanese raider Pixie Knight.
Mauritius-born Teetan walked away unscathed and was able to continue riding, while Amazing Star and Naboo Attack were humanely euthanised as a result of the injuries they suffered. Lucky Patch and Pixie Knight are believed to have escaped serious injury.
“The three jockeys are all in a stable condition and they were conscious when they were transported to hospital. Zac and Lyle are in ICU, they’re conscious and their vitals are all stable,” Jockey Club executive director of racing Andrew Harding said.
“Zac has some upper-body injuries, but the extent of those does not seem to be extreme. Lyle potentially has a fracture of his hip and they’re monitoring him to see whether there are any other injuries that he has sustained.
“As far as Fukunaga is concerned, he continues to be monitored for a potential fracture [of the clavicle], and that also has to be managed very carefully in the context of the racing bubble.
“We’re very sad about the loss of the two horses, and we will be investigating if there is anything that can be learned - we do that always.”
The crowd of 17,423 were left in shock and the incident cast a pall over Hong Kong’s biggest race meeting, with people on course and beyond waiting for updates on the seriousness of the injuries.
The fall came in the fifth race of the Hong Kong International Races, with the Jockey Club dialling down the presentations for the Sprint and the remaining two Group One contests.
“We decided not to play the national anthem afterwards out of respect to the jockeys and respect to the horses,” Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said.
“We knew the jockeys were conscious but we have to respect the athletes - be it horses, be it jockeys ... Some people don’t agree, and I can understand this, but that is how I see it.
“Today is definitely a day which had tremendous sporting success, but it was also a day where we unfortunately had a tragic accident - fortunately, the jockeys are not seriously injured.”
The event was operating under a special “racing bubble” which allowed overseas participants from Japan, Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom to compete without coming into contact with the general public.
Fukunaga was one of those operating within the bubble and Engelbrecht-Bresges confirmed that extended to the hospital.
“We planned everything, even the bubble in the hospital. We want to thank the government for their trust,” he said.
The Caspar Fownes-trained Sky Field went on to win the HK$22 million race under Blake Shinn.
“I have mixed emotions for winning this race today. Obviously, the first emotion is that my feelings are with the fallen jockeys and horses out there,” Shinn said.
“It’s gut-wrenching for any rider to see a horse go down. It’s a real tragedy what’s happened today, especially on the world stage when everyone is watching. It’s a real bittersweet win, and in a way it’s a hard win to take in the circumstances.”
The David Hayes-trained Naboo Attack – one of the biggest gallopers in training in the city whose sheer size and come-from-behind racing style had endeared him to fans – was having just his sixth race start in Hong Kong.
A two-time champion trainer in Hong Kong and a member of the Australian Racing Hall of Fame, 59-year-old Hayes has been in the game all his life and walked away from Sha Tin in shock.
“Today is one of my saddest days in racing. My favourite horse, my biggest horse, and my best horse has sadly passed away. A gentle giant who was about to show the world his greatness,” Hayes said.
HKIR fall: emotional roller-coaster finishes in far happier place than it could have
A smile from Lyle Hewitson, some typical get-up-and-go from Zac Purton and the prospect of a flight home for Yuichi Fukunaga made Monday a good dayby Sam Agars
on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 12:54 AM
0Comments
The shock – then fear, hopelessness and uncertainty – that gripped Sha Tin and the racing fraternity following the horror fall in Sunday’s Hong Kong Sprint is something no one who was involved will ever forget.
It felt like an eternity before those emotions slowly gave way to relief and amazement as the day wore on and news filtered through that jockeys Zac Purton, Lyle Hewitson and Yuichi Fukunaga were in a stable condition in hospital.
On Monday it felt more like elation – to see Hewitson smiling as he prepared to leave ICU and hear Purton talking about how he was pushing doctors to discharge him so he could get to dinner somehow made it all the more real.
To be talking about broken bones and how the Jockey Club is going about getting Japan’s Fukunaga home seems like the best-case scenario after a brutal incident that had most fearing the worst.
It was a stark reminder, delivered on Hong Kong’s biggest day of racing, of just how fine the line is that these jockeys walk and the loss of gallopers Amazing Star and Naboo Attack, as Blake Shinn described it, was gut-wrenching.
Shinn was a class act in the minutes after winning the Sprint aboard Sky Field and put it as well as anyone could have so soon after such a confronting incident.
“I have mixed emotions for winning this race today. Obviously, the first emotion is that my feelings are with the fallen jockeys and horses out there,” Shinn said. “It’s a real bittersweet win, and in a way it’s a hard win to take in the circumstances.”
Yuga Kawada was lucky to avoid the melee aboard Danon Smash in the Sprint and has spoken about his conflicting emotions after winning the Hong Kong Cup aboard Loves Only You.
While fans’ thoughts were no doubt never far from the fallen jockeys and horses, they certainly faced conflicts of their own throughout the afternoon.
None more so than when Golden Sixty thundered to a brilliant victory, the 19th of his career to make him the most prolific galloper in Hong Kong racing history, in the Mile barely an hour after the carnage of the Sprint.
It was a victory that deserved to be celebrated and was, but those celebrations were of course tempered by the cloud of uncertainty that hung over Sha Tin, even if the Jockey Club had by then issued a statement saying Purton, Hewitson and Fukunaga were conscious and had been taken to hospital.
It’s much easier to appreciate the brilliance that took place on the racetrack now than it was on Sunday afternoon and the good news for racing fans is that Golden Sixty blew away the strongest field he’s faced in a manner which suggested he’s far from finished winning Group Ones and setting records.
The same goes for Shinn, who won his first Group One in Hong Kong. If the way he’s fought for his Hong Kong career and the way he carried himself on the weekend are anything to go by, his time to truly revel in a Group One win here will come.
But all that is for later. Monday was for being grateful that the emotional roller-coaster that began as the field prepared to straighten for home in the city’s biggest sprint race finished in a far happier place than it could have.
It was a stark reminder, delivered on Hong Kong’s biggest day of racing, of just how fine the line is that these jockeys walk and the loss of gallopers Amazing Star and Naboo Attack, as Blake Shinn described it, was gut-wrenching.
Shinn was a class act in the minutes after winning the Sprint aboard Sky Field and put it as well as anyone could have so soon after such a confronting incident.
“I have mixed emotions for winning this race today. Obviously, the first emotion is that my feelings are with the fallen jockeys and horses out there,” Shinn said. “It’s a real bittersweet win, and in a way it’s a hard win to take in the circumstances.”
Yuga Kawada was lucky to avoid the melee aboard Danon Smash in the Sprint and has spoken about his conflicting emotions after winning the Hong Kong Cup aboard Loves Only You.
While fans’ thoughts were no doubt never far from the fallen jockeys and horses, they certainly faced conflicts of their own throughout the afternoon.
None more so than when Golden Sixty thundered to a brilliant victory, the 19th of his career to make him the most prolific galloper in Hong Kong racing history, in the Mile barely an hour after the carnage of the Sprint.
It was a victory that deserved to be celebrated and was, but those celebrations were of course tempered by the cloud of uncertainty that hung over Sha Tin, even if the Jockey Club had by then issued a statement saying Purton, Hewitson and Fukunaga were conscious and had been taken to hospital.
It’s much easier to appreciate the brilliance that took place on the racetrack now than it was on Sunday afternoon and the good news for racing fans is that Golden Sixty blew away the strongest field he’s faced in a manner which suggested he’s far from finished winning Group Ones and setting records.
The same goes for Shinn, who won his first Group One in Hong Kong. If the way he’s fought for his Hong Kong career and the way he carried himself on the weekend are anything to go by, his time to truly revel in a Group One win here will come.
Zac Purton discharged and Lyle Hewitson out of ICU, Yuichi Fukunaga awaits flight home after Sunday’s horrific race fall at Sha Tin
Most certain of all is that there will be more success for Japan in Hong Kong – Japanese gallopers are utterly dominant when they descend on Sha Tin for anything 2,000m and above and Glory Vase and Loves Only You brought an element of class to the meeting.But all that is for later. Monday was for being grateful that the emotional roller-coaster that began as the field prepared to straighten for home in the city’s biggest sprint race finished in a far happier place than it could have.
Paging for Brother HorLee,
You in HK now?
Come back, please give me a call.
My boss needs your advice as he is investing to buy few horses in Australia to be race in Msia next year.
Call me ASAP.
Brother HorLee
Tonight any good tips from HK.
Good things must share mah.
Free we talk over lunch at MBS.
Last edited:
Similar threads
