Dual-licence trainer with A-list backing
A FAMILY link and an ability to speak Cantonese has seen Gold Coast jockey Allan Chau step into the unknown and take out a trainers licence to work for the emerging Hong Kong-based A List Stud.
Chau has been given 10 expensive two and three-yearolds to kick off his training career after the high-profile connections associated with A List became frustrated with the language barrier when
racing horses in Australia.
Producing a handful of promising two-year-old’s at the trials on Tuesday, Chau is well on his way as a trainer and expects to have Russian Warrior at the races in the next week.
“A List is the only company I am training for at the moment, they have plenty of numbers to support me and they are the ones that gave me the opportunity,” Chau said.
“They are very nice types, they have spent a lot of money on them so they aren’t messing around.
“They breed to very, very nice stallions, you can see that in their pedigrees so that was another reason I jumped at the opportunity.”
Having been slowly building for two years, A List has decided to heavily back Chau, who still rides as a jockey for the time being, due to his Hong Kong links.
“The CEO and owner, Chris (Lee) is a family friend of mine, he has been friends with my old man for a long time,” Chau said.
“There was a language barrier to start off for them to communicate, it wasn’t the main reason but it was certainly one of them.
“They were struggling to get their horses in and communicate with some trainers so he asked me if I wanted to take up the opportunity. He approached me about a year ago and I kept saying no because I knew how much hard work it is to become a trainer.
Chau says he plans to slowly phase out his riding as his training licence allows him to train more than 10 horses.