Cruz, Tony
Age: 59. Tony Cruz is a son of Johnny Cruz, a renowned rider from Hong Kong’s amateur era. His brother, Derek Cruz, is also a trainer. He was among the first intake of apprentices to the HKJC Apprentice Jockeys’ School when that facility opened in 1972. Cruz started his riding career in the 1973/74 season. He went on to be Hong Kong's champion jockey six times (1978/79, 1980/81, 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1994/95) and rode 946 winners. Cruz also made his name at G1 level in Europe and notably partnered the great race mare Triptych. He was granted a Hong Kong trainer’s licence in 1996 and first landed the trainers' title in 1999/2000. He regained the crown in 2005, setting a then record for a season's winners (91) and earnings (HK$113m) in the process. He most famously trained the great Hong Kong champion Silent Witness to win 17 consecutive races before tasting defeat. His notable wins include: Hong Kong Mile (2003 Lucky Owners, 2010 Beauty Flash), Hong Kong Cup (2011 & 2012 California Memory), Hong Kong Sprint (2003 & 2004 Silent Witness, 2015 Peniaphobia), Champions Mile (2005 & 2006 Bullish Luck), AP QEII Cup (2015 Blazing Speed), Hong Kong Derby (2004 Lucky Owners, 2008 Helene Mascot), Sprinters Stakes (2005 Silent Witness) and Yasuda Kinen (2006 Bullish Luck). Hong Kong Career Wins (as of 21 April, 2016): 1051 (win strike rate: 10.69%).
Fownes, Caspar
Age: 48. Caspar Fownes assisted his late father Lawrie for several seasons before taking over the mantle in 2003/04. He eclipsed his father's best season stats in his rookie year with 44 wins. He has been Hong Kong’s Champion Trainer three times (2006/07, 2008/09, 2013/14). His third championship came in 2013/14 when his strong late charge brought three wins on the closing day to tie with John Size on 62 wins, and with one more second place than his rival he sealed the title on count-back. His notable wins include: Hong Kong Mile (2006 The Duke), Hong Kong Sprint (2011 Lucky Nine), KrisFlyer International Sprint (2010 Green Birdie, 2013 & 2014 Lucky Nine), Hong Kong Derby (2010 Super Satin), Chairman’s Sprint Prize (2013 & 2014 Lucky Nine), Hong Kong Classic Mile (2011 Lucky Nine), Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (2012 Lucky Nine). Hong Kong Career Wins (as of 21 April, 2016): 686 (win strike rate: 9.84%).
Hayes, David
Age: 53. Hayes is the son of Australian training legend Colin Hayes. He took out his own licence in 1990 and won every training title in Melbourne and Adelaide before moving to Hong Kong in 1995 where he stayed nine seasons, winning 458 races, principally the Hong Kong Derby with Elegant Fashion and the 2002 Hong Kong Sprint with All Thrills Too. Returned home in 2005 and became the youngest trainer inductee to Australian racing’s Hall of Fame. Hayes has won the Melbourne Cup (1994 Jeune), as well as the Cox Plate twice (1990 Better Loosen Up; 2006 Fields Of Omagh) and two Caulfield Cups (Fraar 1993; Tawqeet 2006). He also saddled Better Loosen Up to win the 1990 Japan Cup, while Miss Finland’s clutch of G1 wins included the Golden Slipper. Since the start of the 2014/15 season he has partnered with his nephew, Tom Dabernig, and the pair have won four G1s, including the Caulfield Stakes and Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Criterion. Dabernig learnt the ropes, initially, under his grandfather, Colin Hayes. After a spell training under his own licence, he became assistant trainer to David Hayes in 2009. Hong Kong career wins (as of 21 April): 458 win strike rate: 9.38%).
Hori, Noriyuki
Age: 48. Hori obtained his JRA trainer license in 2002. He was the JRA trainer with the best winning percentage record in 2011 and repeated that feat in 2015 when he also claimed his first JRA champion trainer title. He has a career total 417 wins so far, with 15 so far this season (as of 4 April, 2016). Hori has no less than 10 G1 wins including Kinshasa No Kiseki’s 2010 & 2011 Takamatsunomiya Kinen triumphs, Jaguar Mail’s 2010 Tenno Sho Spring victory and Real Impact’s 2011 Yasuda Kinen win. He enjoyed his most successful year in training in 2015, with Duramente bringing him his first classic win in the G1 Japanese 2,000 Guineas and then following up in the G1 Japanese Derby, while his mile champion Maurice excelled in the G1 Yasuda Kinen, G1 Mile Championship and the G1 Hong Kong Mile. Hong Kong career wins (as of 21 April): 1 (win strike rate: 20%).
Ikee, Yasutoshi
Age: 47. Yasutoshi Ikee is the son of Yasuo Ikee, the former JRA trainer who prepped two-time Japanese Horse of the Year Deep Impact and 2001 Hong Kong Vase winner Stay Gold. Ikee worked in his father’s stable for a brief time before going to the UK to work for Michael Stoute in 1995. A year later he went to California to work for leading US trainer Neil Drysdale and he stayed there until 2003. He returned to Japan to take out his trainer's licence that same year and is now established as one of his country's most successful trainers. He has notched no less than 499 wins, 10 this season (as of 1 April, 2016), with 14 at G1 level. He was Champion Trainer (most wins in a season) in 2008. He has also won JRA Award’s for most prize money earned (2011, 2012 & 2015) and highest winning percentage (2006, 2010). Among the best he has trained are 2011 Japanese Horse of the Year and two-time Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Orfevre and three-time G1 winner Dream Journey. In 2015 he notched four G1 wins thanks to Japanese Oaks and Shuka Sho winner Mikki Queen, and Takarazuka Kinen and Tenno Sho (Autumn) winner Lovely Day.
de Kock, Mike
Age: 54. Mike de Kock won his first G1 just four months into his training career in 1989. He has won every major in South Africa at least once and trained the South African Triple Crown winner, Horse Chestnut, as well as the crack mares Ipi Tombe and Igugu. He has enjoyed considerable success at the Dubai World Cup Carnival winning the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic, the UAE Derby six times, both the Dubai Duty Free and the Godolphin Mile twice, and in 2013 he also added the G1 Al Quoz Sprint to the list thanks to Shea Shea. He is also a force when he heads to Hong Kong, winning the APQEII Cup with Irridescence (2006) and Archipenko (2008), the 2008 Hong Kong Cup with Eagle Mountain and the 2014 Champions Mile with Variety Club. His eight G1 wins in 2015 included the Cape Derby with Ertijaal. As well as his strong overseas base in Dubai, he now has another satellite yard in England. Hong Kong career wins (as of 21 April): 4 (win strike rate: 17.39%).
Millard, Tony
Age: 54. Tony Millard’s father was the legendary multiple South African champion trainer Terrance Millard. Millard made an impressive start to his own training career in 1991. He was champion trainer in South Africa twice (1992, 1994 [shared with Pat Shaw]) and won all of that country’s majors. He trained three Horses of the Year there in Empress Club, Jet Master and Surfing Home. He sent out 39 G1 winners in his first nine years of training before relocating to Hong Kong. He made an immediate impact locally, winning the 2000 Hong Kong Derby in his first season, with Keen Winner. His most spectacular successes in Hong Kong have come with two-time Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon whose 13 career wins included two G1s and five local G1s. Millard took Hong Kong's star mare Sweet Sanette to Royal Ascot in 2011 where she finished third in the G1 King's Stand Stakes. Notable wins include: Hong Kong Mile (2012 Ambitious Dragon), AP QEII Cup (2011 Ambitious Dragon), Hong Kong Derby (2000 Keen Winner, 2011 Ambitious Dragon), Stewards’ Cup (2012 Ambitious Dragon), Hong Kong Gold Cup (2012 Ambitious Dragon), Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (2013 Ambitious Dragon), Durban July (1993 Dancing Duel), J & B Met (1993 Empress Club, 1995 Surfing Home), Queen’s Plate (1993 Empress Club, 1999 Jet Master). Hong Kong Career Wins (as of 21 April, 2016): 503 (win strike rate: 8.32%).
Moore, John
Age: 66. John Moore has been involved in Hong Kong racing since the professional era commenced in 1971 and is Hong Kong's longest-serving and winning-most trainer. A former amateur jockey, he began training in 1985, before which time he held the position of assistant trainer to his late famous father, George. In 2007 he prepared an international G1 double thanks to Viva Pataca in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and Able One in the Champions Mile and, in a feat perhaps unprecedented in the sport, won the same two races with the same two horses three years later. The seven-time Hong Kong Champion Trainer (1985/86, 1990/91, 1991/92, 1992/93 [tied with David Hill], 1994/95, 2010/11, 2014/15) was the first to saddle 1000 wins in Hong Kong and has been the leading prize money earner for the past 10 seasons. He holds the record for all-time career prize money (HK$1.56 billion as of 21 April, 2016) and the record for most prize money in a season (HK$139,938,247 in 2014/15). His notable wins include: Hong Kong Mile (2011 Able One, 2014 Able Friend), Hong Kong Cup (1993 Motivation, 2014 Designs On Rome), Hong Kong Sprint (2008 Inspiration), Hong Kong Vase (2013 Dominant), Champions Mile (2007 & 2010 Able One, 2011 & 2012 Xtension, 2013 Dan Excel, 2015 Able Friend), AP QEII Cup (2007 & 2010 Viva Pataca, 2013 Military Attack, 2014 Designs On Rome), Hong Kong Derby (1995 Makarpura Star, 2006 Viva Pataca, 2009 Collection, 2014 Designs On Rome, 2016 Werther), Stewards’ Cup (2015 Able Friend), Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup (2006 & 2007 Joyful Winner, 2015 Able Friend), Hong Kong Gold Cup (2006 Super Kid, 2008 & 2009 Viva Pataca, 2010 Collection, 2013 & 2014 Military Attack, 2015 Designs On Rome), Singapore Airlines International Cup (2013 Military Attack, 2014 & 2015 Dan Excel), Dubai Golden Shaheen (2014 Sterling City). Hong Kong Career Wins (as of 21 April): 1486 (win strike rate: 10.57%).
O’Brien, Aidan
Age: 46. O’Brien has a phenomenal list of big race wins already to his name and is fast approaching 250 G1 winners - he added a remarkable 17 to his haul in 2015. A champion amateur jump jockey in Ireland, he was assistant trainer to Jim Bolger before taking out a trainers’ licence in 1993 – he was Ireland’s champion trainer for a 19th time in 2015 with 99 wins. He enjoyed remarkable success with jumpers before teaming up with John Magnier’s Coolmore operation at the legendary Ballydoyle training base in 1996, the year he became Ireland’s youngest ever champion trainer on the Flat. He has won 57 British and Irish Classic races. O’Brien has trained a host of champions including super sire Galileo, High Chaparral, Giant’s Causeway, Rock Of Gibraltar and Cape Blanco. With nine Breeders’ Cup wins already on the board, he broke new ground last year with his first winner in Australia, Adelaide in the G1 Cox Plate and in December, 2015, Highland Reel gave him his first Hong Kong win with victory in the G1 Hong Kong Vase.
Saito, Makoto
Age: 45. Makoto Saito worked as a groom and work rider for 13 years before obtaining his JRA trainer license in 2006. So far he has saddled a total of 227 wins in his career, including six this term (as of 1 April, 2016). He has saddled two G1 winners, Nuovo Record in the 2014 Japanese Oaks and Goshawk Ken in the 2007 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. Saito notched his maiden overseas success when Esmeraldina won the Ttukseom Cup (KOR G3) at Seoul Racecourse in June 2015. He took Nuovo Record to Hong Kong for the 2015 G1 Hong Kong Cup in which she finished second to A Shin Hikari.
