SA Champ Visits Australia

One of South African horseracing’s favourite sons, our three-time national champion jockey Lyle Hewitson commenced his short stint in Victoria, Australia, with five rides, including three for the Robbie Griffiths and Mathew de Kock partnership, on the Pakenham polytrack on Monday.

While he didn’t find the winner’s enclosure, Lyle is worth keeping an eye on in the next few weeks!

The 26-year-old spoke to Racing.com prior to flying out of Hong Kong, bound for Melbourne, where he got his first taste of Australian racing this week.

“I’m really excited of course, I’ve never been to Australia first and foremost, so that’s going to be a great experience in itself,” he said.

“We’re always looking to improve, open more doors and broaden our horizons, so I think Australia’s the ideal place because racing’s thriving there. It also opens up other opportunities down the line, whether it’s for a fly in, fly out for big races or later in my career if it’s somewhere I’d like to settle down. It’s basically an open door that I’m just looking to get through and make the most of it, I’m really looking forward to it,” Lyle said.

As well as dipping his toes into the waters of Australian racing, Hewitson’s stint in Victoria has the added benefit of helping him prepare for the upcoming season in Hong Kong.

“If you’re trying to get fit and keep your weight down and then also get your eye in, it’s too many balls that you’re trying to juggle at the same time,” added the Durbanite.

“I feel like doing this, besides what it’s going to offer me in terms of the future with Australian racing, it’s going to be a nice kick-start into the new season in Hong Kong because I’ll be riding fit, my weight will be in order, I’ll have my eye in and ready to go and hopefully, have ridden quite a few winners that I get the confidence into the new season.”

A former Work Rider, Lyle rode his first professional winner on his third book of rides at Fairview on 18 March 2016 aboard Blizzard Belle for Yvette Bremner and was the first man since the legend Gerald Turner to lift the national title while still an apprentice. Lyle was SA Champion Apprentice in 2016/17 and 2017/18, and was crowned SA Champion Jockey in 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2020/21.

His enormous promise led to a short-term contract to ride in Hong Kong in 2019, and it was during that initial six-month stint that he learned just how competitive the Asian racing jurisdiction is as, like so many newcomers, he battled for quality opportunities in a tough environment.

“I never went through a dull or slow patch in my career until the first time that I came to Hong Kong. It was a bit of an awakening, I really had to take it in my stride, and I think it obviously makes you tougher mentally as a person and mature as a human being. I was pretty proud of the way I handled all of that and got through it. I went away, went to Japan, did really well, went back to South Africa and won the championship, and then one morning, woke up to a phone call from Hong Kong and went back. Then I had a setback with a major fall from the start once again. Everything that I achieved post that meant a little bit more to me just because I had to overcome those obstacles. I wasn’t even starting from the bottom; I was below that and overcame it,” he adds maturely.

But now things are looking up.

“Two seasons ago was really good and then this past season was consistent, but I’m looking to achieve a lot more.”

Lyle’s hard work and determined approach has led to him riding 120 winners during his time based at Sha Tin, where he’s been based since the end of 2021. He ended last season in the top 10 in the jockeys’ premiership. Lyle rode 40 winners in Hong Kong during the 2023-24 season, including a treble at Sha Tin last month.

Jockey manager Nick Pinkerton will be booking Lyle’s rides in this short stint and he confirmed that the seven-time Group 1 winner will be available to ride in Melbourne between this past Monday until Wednesday 21 August.

The Hong Kong racing season starts on 8 September. Pinkerton said Lyle was obviously keen to build relationships and to work hard for local stables in a bid to be an option for lightweight Gr1 rides during the spring.

The scene of our star’s Aussie debut, Pakenham Racecourse fills a vital stop gap between the metro level of racing and the genuine bush circuits in Australia. The town of Pakenham is located to the south east of Melbourne.

The track dates back to 1875, making it one of the oldest circuits still in operation in Australia. Pakenham has a turf track and a polytrack, the latter interestingly the first in Australia, and which opened in 2015.

• Visit blog.hollywoodbets.net to find the selections and venue off-times for the Australian racing.