For however long Almond Lee is a trainer in Hong Kong, he’s on notice. He will be walking the plank, counting off wins until he gets to 15 for the season. And if he doesn’t reach that number, the equation is simple – he will no longer be a horse trainer.
From the outside looking in, plying a trade at Sha Tin must look like some professional utopia.
Huge prizemoney, even for lower grade events, is just part of the lure. Constant bug bears of trainers the world over – chasing payments from owners, vet bills and finding staff – are all, for the most part, taken care of by the all-powerful Jockey Club.
Of course, there is also world-class racing and just twice per week, with a comparably luxurious off-season.
But as Lee’s tightrope-walking season shows, training in Hong Kong has its own unique types of pressure and carries a cut-throat edge, especially if things aren’t going the way you planned.
Lee has trained less than the required benchmark in the past two seasons. Under the three strikes and you’re out system, he’s cashed in his get-out-of-jail-free cards.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Lee said after he scratched off win number one with Best Jade Triumph on Sunday. “Sure, you have to deal with pressure, but you just have to look at the money here. I win a Class Five here, it’s like a trainer in New Zealand winning a Group Three. So the pressure is fair, I can’t complain.”
Part of the pressure of being at the bottom of the trainers’ championship is owners will flee a stable perceived as having a run of “bad luck” – like rats off a sinking ship.
Then there’s the rival trainers circling, trying to procure new stock.
Finding new people to get involved in racing is another thing Sha Tin-based trainers don’t have to worry about, as there’s a waiting list of owners, some willing to pay exorbitant prices for horses.
The flipside of limited horse ownership, and everybody training at one track, is that it’s as simple as signing a form for a disgruntled owner to have a horse move stables overnight.
The leading yards are at capacity and take the pick of the best new talent, while the strugglers live on a slippery slope. Lee has just 30 horses, less than half what is allowed. And if any show promise, he and his fellow trainers near the bottom of the table have to watch for the vultures.
Starting the season strongly is key, to give the impression of an “in-form” or “lucky” run.
As one trainer put it bluntly: “Everyone has their horses up and running now and early, because they are trying to pinch horses and build their stable – it’s competitive out there.”
Some of the lower-ranked yards have tried particularly hard to strike early. It seems Sean Woods, who got his first strike last season, has made a concerted effort to start with a bang, trialling his runners more frequently than usual in the pre-season. His two wins last Wednesday were a welcome relief for a handler with just 19 horses.
According to Lee, whose best season came in 2006-07 when he finished fourth in the championship with 44 wins, the solution is a matter of hard work, consistency and self-belief.
“I have those two strikes hanging over me until the day I retire, but what can you do? Work harder, look closer at the horses and spend more time with them,” he said.
“I don’t know what I would do other than horse training, there’s no plan B, but I don’t think about the negative anyway.
“I’m here now and doing my job, and I will concentrate on that.
“Thinking of plan B or C isn’t fair on the people who work for me or who I work for.”
