British trainer David Eustace will dissolve his highly successful partnership with Australian handler Ciaron Maher next month and join the Jockey Club’s ranks in Hong Kong in time for the beginning of next season.

The pedigree page of Eustace, whose Australian Group One wins alongside Maher include the 2020 Cox Plate (2,040m) with Sir Dragonet and the 2022 Melbourne Cup (3,200m) with Gold Trip, drips with black type and features a strong family connection to Hong Kong.

The 32-year-old’s father, James, trained in Newmarket for more than 30 years before he handed Park Lodge Stables’ reins to his eldest son, Harry. His uncle, David Oughton, was a Hong Kong handler for nearly 20 years and associated with gallopers such as Che Sara Sara, Figures, Idol, Precision, San Domenico, Starlight and two-time overseas Group One winner Cape Of Good Hope.

“My mother, Gay, is David Oughton’s sister, and as a nine or 10-year-old, I was aware of David training over in Hong Kong and thought that it would be an amazing experience to train there eventually, and it has genuinely been something in the forefront of my mind since then, really,” Eustace said.

“I remember Mum getting faxes from David when they had a winner in Hong Kong. I remember Precision winning a Group One when I was very young. Hong Kong was always there with winning photos in the kitchen in Newmarket.

“It’s a great honour to be invited to train in Hong Kong. There are limited spots, and there’s fierce competition, which certainly excites me. I think it’s a rare opportunity for someone probably of my age to be able to go there and hopefully have a long and successful career. That’s certainly the aim.”

Successful would be an appropriate word to describe the soon-to-end alliance of Eustace and Maher. The Briton was the Australian’s assistant for two years before they formed their partnership.

They have saddled more than 1,500 Australian winners, including 30 at Group One level, since August 2018. Last term, they won the national title with 347 victories.

In a statement, Maher described Eustace’s decision to wind up their collaboration over the next few weeks ahead of his move to Hong Kong as “bittersweet”.

“Bitter, because it will be difficult to replace someone with David’s skills, work ethic and all-around contribution. Sweet, because it’s a fitting reward for David,” Maher said.

“On a personal level, I want to thank David. He’s been alongside me from the early days through thick and thin. I know we couldn’t have reached our current position as champion trainers of Australia without him, and his Hong Kong appointment is a recognition of that. I’m certain he’ll be very successful there.”

Andrew Harding, the Jockey Club’s executive director of racing, lauded Eustace’s breadth of knowledge.

“David brings a unique skill set as well as extensive experience for a trainer of his age,” Harding said. “He has worked with and learned from some of horse racing’s finest trainers around the world, and with his understanding of sports science coupled with established training methods, I look forward to watching David’s career flourish in Hong Kong.”

While the Jockey Club’s licensing of Eustace for next season did not come as a huge surprise given it had been the topic of trackside talk for quite some time, its decision to extend the permit of Lucky Sweynesse’s handler, Manfred Man Ka-leung, and tweak its policies regarding retirement ages were.

Happy Badel to get Together with Lor and discuss targeting G3 January Cup

The licensing committee resolved to lift the trainers’ retirement age from 65 to 66, revise the criteria for handlers to be eligible to work until they are 70 and approve Man, who meets one of the new metrics because of the Group wins of Lucky Sweynesse and Encountered in recent years, to run his stable next term, and potentially until the end of the 2028-29 season.

“I’d like to thank the Jockey Club for their decision,” Man said. “The important thing is my champion sprinter, Lucky Sweynesse, has helped me out a lot.”