Clipperton and Mo looking forward to Hong Kong challenge

29/08/2016

The two newest additions to the Hong Kong jockey ranks, Sam Clipperton and Dylan Mo, met local media during a press conference at Sha Tin racecourse this morning (Monday, 29 August).

Clipperton, twice Sydney’s Champion Apprentice, is one of Australia’s hottest emerging talents and commences a three-month contract on Saturday, 3 September, the 2016/17 season opener. Mo is the latest young Hong Kong rider to emerge from the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Apprentice Jockeys’ School.

Clipperton, 22, started out with Hall of Famer Ron Quinton and, after a breakthrough season in Sydney, during which he notched a first G1 win and formed a successful association with Godolphin, he is excited for the upcoming challenge.

“I arrived three weeks ago and I’m absolutely loving the place,” said the rider. “It’s always been a dream of mine to ride in Hong Kong and a major goal for my career to make it here at a young age, at a part of my career when I think I still have a lot of improvement - I’m very excited about getting started and getting on the track.

“Last season was a breakthrough season for me and I had a lot of support from Godolphin, Gai Waterhouse, Peter and Paul Snowden and all the leading stables in Sydney - I was getting winners for them all. It looked like things were only going to go up for me in Sydney but Hong Kong is where I want to be based,” he continued.

“Growing up watching Hong Kong racing on TV, this is where I want to be, and, when I got the opportunity, I couldn’t turn the Jockey Club down. There have been sacrifices in terms of leaving everything I’d worked hard for in Sydney but this is why I’m coming here - I’ve worked hard, I’ve had some success and now it’s on to the next stage of working hard here, building up connections and hopefully getting some big success on the world stage.”

The Hong Kong circuit is renowned as one of the world’s toughest to break and Clipperton is under no illusions regarding the task ahead. With that in mind, the young gun was circumspect when it came to discussing how many winners he might achieve but he was clear as to his long-term aim.

“I don't have any number set in terms of how many winners I want to ride in the three months,” he said. “I just want to work as hard as possible and build up relationships with owners and trainers. To get into double digits over three months would be great; but important for me is just to ride enough winners to get myself a stay for the whole season - overall, that’s my main goal. Hong Kong is where I want to be based permanently, so I want enough winners to get me that extension to stay for the rest of the season.”

Clipperton’s only previous overseas experience came in New Zealand, and fellow new hoop, Mo, is familiar with racing in that neck of the woods. Hong Kong’s newest ten-pound apprentice started the overseas portion of his training in South Africa before moving on to New Zealand where, like Kei Chiong before him, he teamed up with trainer Allan Sharrock. He has, to date, notched 45 career wins from 548 rides.

“The tracks in New Zealand and South Africa are all very different, so I learned a lot by riding in those places and I hope that experience will help me now that I am back in Hong Kong,” said Mo. “I know that I still have things I need to improve and I am lucky to have Felix (Coetzee) to teach me; he’s been reminding me to be especially alert jumping out of the gate, how best to steady the horse and save energy for the finish, and he’s been helping me with switching my whip.”

Coetzee, perhaps best known as the rider of the great Silent Witness, is nowadays the chief riding instructor at the HKJC Apprentice Jockeys’ School.

“After Kei’s big season, people have probably raised their expectations,” observed Coetzee. “Dylan is still adapting, he’s a work in progress and we’re working hard to prepare him for the first day and we’ll be working closely with him from meeting to meeting. There are still a lot of things for him to learn - this is different to South Africa and New Zealand - but he’s a very good chap to work with; he’s diligent and he works hard, so that will benefit him.”

Kei Chiong, Hong Kong’s first female rider since 2000, stormed to 37 wins in an award-winning first season. Mo is relatively grounded in his expectations for the campaign ahead.

“This season I will be trying to reach 20 wins as soon as possible because I hope to become a seven-pound claimer before the end of the season,” he said. “People will compare me to Kei and Jack (Wong), it is difficult not to, but I will just try my best to deliver good results.”

Mr Andrew Harding, the Club’s Executive Director, Racing Authority, said of the two riders: “Dylan comes at a time that Felix Coetzee has joined us in a more expansive role as the chief riding instructor for Amy Chan’s (Racing Development Board Executive Manger and Apprentice Jockeys’ School Headmistress) team at the Racing Development Board. With Amy’s guidance and Felix’s expertise, Dylan has a very promising introduction to Hong Kong racing.

“Sam has been on the radar for some time, he’s such an exciting talent in Australian racing already. He has an impressive CV, having been twice champion apprentice in Sydney, riding for the Godolphin stable, two Group 1s already last season and six Group 2 wins. Sam is an exciting addition to the roster and a great way to start the season; we’ll enjoy seeing Sam’s riding style over the next three months.”