Preparing to compete against Hong Kong’s stellar jockey roster, Britney Wong is committed to learning from the world’s best riders as she embarks on the opening phase of her career as an apprentice jockey in her home city.
Wong, 25, is Hong Kong’s first homegrown female jockey to ride full time in the city since the retirement of Kei Chiong in 2018. Indentured to David Hall, Wong is determined to work hard and take her opportunities after learning to ride at The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.
Britney chats to the media recently (Pic – HKJC)
“I actually don’t think words can explain my excitement because it is a very huge opportunity for me. I’ve been working very hard to get it, so I’m very pleased that the Club has given me the opportunity now,” Wong said.
“As long as one works hard, you can achieve success in Hong Kong, which is a tough place with the world-class racing and there are also a lot of top-class jockeys riding here, so it will be a challenge to ride against them but I will try my best.
“Riding in Hong Kong is a really big step up for me. I’m not going to have any silly expectations, but every win is a win and every ride is a ride. So, I’ll just do my best to give every possible chance for my horses in each race.
“I regard every senior jockey as a role model because they all have different riding styles and different merits to learn from. I had the chance to ride against Jamie Kah in Australia and I learnt from watching Jamie how focused she was in races.
“Zac (Purton) came over to the jockey school to share his thoughts with me on Tuesday. His preparation and everything is very thorough and he covers everything. I think that’s a big thing to learn from.”
Asked how she would cope riding in front of large crowds at Sha Tin after competing at a variety of smaller courses in Australia and New Zealand, Wong said: “I don’t pay any attention to the crowd when I am riding in races. I only focus on doing my best during races.”
Trainer David Hall and his newest indentured jockey, Britney Wong (Pic – HKJC)
Wong thanked the Club’s Head of Racing Talent Training and Headmistress, Apprentice Jockeys’ School Amy Chan and former champion jockey and Chief Riding Instructor at the school Felix Coetzee for their guidance.
“I’ve always loved doing sport and whenever I got a chance, I always tried to learn a new sport. Then eight years ago, I saw this opportunity turn up in front of me and I thought it’s the ideal job for me combining sports and animals so I gave it a go,” Wong said.
“They have helped me a lot through these eight years to get me through some challenges and to improve my riding skills.”
Amy Chan said: “We are very pleased to see Britney, having had training in Australia and also from our Racing Trainees’ programme, now become a local apprentice jockey. She will learn a lot from David.”
Hall, who previously mentored Matthew Poon, said: “I want to congratulate Britney on making it this far – it’s a big challenge, coming from scratch for a young girl. Now she’s a young lady. It’s been a long journey, but the journey is just beginning.
“She’s had experience in Australia and New Zealand and now she’s ready to be thrown in the deep end in the big league but it’s a great opportunity for her and I’m looking forward to trying to help and guide her as much as I can.
Hall indicated Wong would be available to ride for other stables, subject to discussion.
Wong, who rode 50 winners from 602 rides in South Australia, thanked Hall for his support.
“I want to thank David Hall for taking me on because I know he’s an easy-going person and he’s been giving me very good opportunities in the trials, even before I went overseas,” she said.
Intending to ride at 105lb, Wong is eligible to claim 10lb.
The 2024/25 Hong Kong racing season starts at Sha Tin on Sunday 8 September.
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Cecil Pienaar
John Mynhardt
jakes sayed
Clint Ellice
Wow, so our own Felix Coetzee is the chief riding instructor at the Hong Kong Jockey school! One of the best ever riders to be produced by our own Jockey Academy
I was wondering what Felix was doing post-retirement from the saddle. No surprise that HKJC snapped him up. He really set the standard for professionalism and work ethic in the saddle and exemplified the idea of giving your horse the best chance and riding out to the finish. From memory, he won the championship three times in South Africa, competing against jockeys with surnames like Roberts, Lloyd, Marcus, Leisher, Sham, to name a few. But he also lost out due to injury and suspensions a few times when leading the log – I think he could have won another three titles had it not been for this.
That period of the 1980s was perhaps the greatest period for jockeyship in this country that I’ve seen. Not forgetting Garth Puller, perhaps the most consummate all-round horseman of them all, and Karl Neisius – but the latter two did not actively travel in pursuit of the championship, although they definitely were championship-standard talents.
Striker was an apprentice at the time, as was Delpech, and they would step up a few years later.