Apprentice Kei Chiong Ka-kei gave thanks to her master Francis Lui Kin-wai for allowing her to spread her wings and ride for rival stables during what has been a purple patch of form for Hong Kong racing’s leading lady.
Chiong’s win on the Lui-trained stable transfer Marvel Tribe was the jockey’s 22nd of the term and her ninth from the last six meetings, but it was just her fourth for the stable to which she is indentured.
Lui has first option on Chiong in any given race, but has put the 23-year-old’s development ahead of keeping what was a 10-pound, and now seven-pound, claim to himself – booking her for just 36 rides out of 200 overall, with the apprentice riding for 22 of the 24 stables.
“It has been good that he has allowed me to choose good horses first, but of course if the owner requests me I will ride his horse first,” Chiong said. “Every trainer is different so I learn something new each time.”
Of course Lui’s motives aren’t entirely altruistic – as the apprentice’s master, he receives a sizeable percentage of Chiong’s earnings – but the trainer suggested he could have been higher on the trainers’ championship table if he had turned down more requests for the in-demand junior.
“If I kept that 10 pounds to myself, maybe I could have been champion trainer?” Lui said, lightheartedly, with the handler moving to equal fifth in the championship with 35 wins. “I’ve got 60 horses, nearly a full house, but that leaves more than 1,000 horses elsewhere. I have first choice but I will look at the race and give preference to the horse with the best chance. Of course, we want her to be on the right types of horses too, and if we want her to be a success, we have to do that.”
Marvel Tribe had won one from 22 for former trainer Ricky Yiu Poon-fai, that solitary success coming over 1,650m at Happy Valley, but freshened and dropped in trip, the six-year-old sprinted brilliantly and surprised Chiong with his gate speed.
“He jumped really fast and was handy – I had thought he would be midfield, but he was up outside the lead and he just kept going,” she said after Marvel Tribe ran well under standard on a track running fast, clocking 1:08.87 for 1,200m in the Class Three.
Chiong came under fire from stewards for the ride though, earning a two-day ban and fined HK$7,500 for shifting across when not clear at the 1,100m mark, causing interference to both Racing Mate and Rainbow Fighter.
Lui was keeping an open mind with what to do next with Marvel Tribe: “He has won over further but obviously he liked being fresh and sprinted well, and the time was good.”
Outside of her win, Chiong had a mixed day, not just with the suspension: short-priced favourite Diamond Mysterious was never in contention when unplaced in a Class Three dirt race, scoping with blood in his trachea, while she was also on the receiving end of interference in race two when Argentum’s rider Opie Bosson was suspended for careless riding after not leaving sufficient room when crossing in the early stages.
