Birthday: Jan 22, 1959
Nationality: Hong Kong
Background:
Age: 65. Francis Lui graduated from The Hong Kong Jockey Club's Apprentice Jockeys' School to ride 36 winners between 1975 and 1982, and later became an assistant trainer. He received his own licence to train in 1996/97. In recent years, Lui has enjoyed plenty of success with Golden Sixty, the first horse in the history of Hong Kong racing to secure three consecutive Horse of the Year crowns. Lui achieved his career highlight in 2023/24, as he sent out 70 winners to clinch his first trainers' title, sealing victory over Pierre Ng in the very last race of the season. His stable star Golden Sixty also added another Group 1 win to his tally by taking a third Hong Kong Mile, enhancing his overall record to 26 wins and three placings from 31 starts with an unmatched HK$167.17 million in earnings. Under Lui's care, Golden Sixty stands alone as Hong Kong's most prolific Group 1 winner, eclipsing the feats of Beauty Generation with nine Group 1 wins after sealing a third straight Champions Mile victory in 2023. In 2024, Lui saddled his 900th winner in Hong Kong. His standout stable star prior to Golden Sixty was popular sprinter Lucky Bubbles, who gave the trainer his first Group 1 win in 2017 when he captured the Chairman's Sprint Prize.
Notable Race Wins Include
Hong Kong Derby (2020 Golden Sixty), Hong Kong Mile (2020, 2021 & 2023 Golden Sixty), Stewards' Cup (2021 & 2023 Golden Sixty), Hong Kong Gold Cup (2021 & 2023 Golden Sixty), Champions Mile (2021, 2022 & 2023 Golden Sixty), Chairman's Sprint Prize (2017 Lucky Bubbles), Hong Kong Classic Mile (2020 Golden Sixty), Hong Kong Classic Cup (2020 Golden Sixty), G2 Chairman's Trophy (2022 Golden Sixty), G2 Jockey Club Mile (2020, 2021 & 2022 Golden Sixty), G2 Jockey Club Sprint (2021 Lucky Patch), G2 Sha Tin Trophy (2020 Golden Sixty), G2 Premier Bowl (2016 Lucky Bubbles, 2021 Lucky Patch), G3 National Day Cup (2023 Stoltz), G3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup (2020 Golden Sixty), G3 January Cup (2020 Doctor Geoff), G3 Celebration Cup (2020 Golden Sixty), G3 Centenary Vase (2021 Glorious Dragon), HKG2 Sprint Cup (2016 Lucky Bubbles), HKG2 Hong Kong Derby Trial (2006 Hello Pretty), HKG3 Sha Tin Trophy (2001 Shaxi Fortune), HKG3 Sha Tin Vase (2008 Sunny Power).
Hong Kong Career Wins
(at start of 2024/25 season): 935 (win strike rate: 8.4%).
Year | Happy Valley | Shatin | 1000m-1200m | 1400m-1650m | 1800m-2000m | 2000m+ | ||||||||||||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
25 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 34 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 79 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 55 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 53 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Distance | Win | 2nd | 3rd | Lost | Total Ride | Win% | ||
Happy Valley | 1000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |
1200 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 80 | 117 | 13.68 | ||
1650 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 54 | 79 | 11.39 | ||
1800 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 24 | 4.17 | ||
2200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
Shatin | All weather | 1200 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 32 | 0 |
1650 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 6.25 | ||
1800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Turf | 1000 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 36 | 13.89 | |
1200 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 76 | 120 | 13.33 | ||
1400 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 84 | 130 | 13.85 | ||
1600 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 29 | 46 | 23.91 | ||
1800 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 18 | 11.11 | ||
2000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
2400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Draw Year | <4 | 4-10 | 10-20 | 20+ | ||||||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
25 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 42 |
Draw Year | 1-5 | 6-10 | 11-14 | |||||||||
1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total | |
25 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 41 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 53 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19 |
Trainer | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Lost | Total |
C. Y. Ho | 5 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 36 |
A. Atzeni | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
Z. Purton | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
L. Hewitson | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | 26 |
A. Hamelin | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
B. Avdulla | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
B. Thompson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
C. L. Chau | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
H. Bowman | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
H. T. Mo | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
J. McDonald | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
K. De. Melo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
K. Teetan | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
L. Ferraris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
M. L. Yeung | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 7 |
Y. L. Chung | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |