Chad Schofield – great first winner in Hong Kong
South African born Chad Schofield launched his Hong Kong career in the best way possible by riding a winner at Sha Tin on Sunday. There was plenty of sentimentality in the victory as it just happened to be Father’s Day in Australia – and he repeated the first -day win feat performed by his Dad Glyn thirteen years earlier.
Chad, who was only 8 years old when his Dad first rode in Hong Kong, won a Class Two race on the Tony Millard-trained Strathmore in front of more than 72 000 racing fans on course.
Tote turnover rose to a new high for the day of HK$1.147 billion!
“It’s a big stage to perform on and Chad’s shown he can do it,” said a proud Glyn, who had watched the race telecast from Sydney. “To do it on the first day means he can build on it. I’m very happy and proud of him. He might have won the next on Secret Command, too, if Dougie Whyte hadn’t shut the door on him – he’s still got it the old fella.”
Tony Millard – trained the winner
“It’s a great thrill. I’ve been close all day with a few placings, but it’s great to get the early win and hopefully that will open up more opportunities. Strathmore is a nice horse, I was sure he’d run well, but the 1,000m was the worry,” said Chad.
21 year old Chad spent four years of his childhood in residence at Sha Tin while his father, Glyn, forged a successful Hong Kong career.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has issued him a contract up to 1 February, 2016.
“It’s hard to say what to expect but during my six-month contract I’d like to ride as many winners as possible and hopefully see out the full season. If I do that I’d like to ride 25 winners. I believe that’s a realistic goal, being that I can ride light, and I’ll do my very best to achieve that,” he said.
“It’s a bit special being here. I spent a large portion of my childhood growing up here and climbing the trees, watching dad over the fence, so now finally to be able to do it myself, to ride and compete on the biggest stage, is pretty special for me. I’m lucky to be here and I can’t wait for the season to get going. Hopefully I can prove that I can mix it among the best.”
Schofield has four Group 1 wins on his CV already since starting his career in Australia in the 2010/11 season.
He also made a guest appearance and rode The Conglomerate for Joey Ramsden in the Gr1 Vodacom Durban July in his old hometown of Durban just two months ago.
Chad and Glyn Schofield
A champion apprentice in Sydney and Melbourne, his pinnacle win so far came aboard Shamus Award in the 2013 Cox Plate and he is hoping for another feature win to kick-start his Hong Kong career, just like his father.
The Club’s licencing of Schofield follows a deliberate trend in recent years that has seen several of the world’s brightest young riders hone their skills in Hong Kong. Schofield has a similar profile to jockeys such as Tye Angland, Damian Lane, Umberto Rispoli and Maxime Guyon who have competed successfully during their time in Hong Kong over the past few seasons.
The 10-race Sunday card was a triumph for Champion Jockey Joao Moreira and past 13-time champion Douglas Whyte, both of whom rode a treble.
