Hewitson, Shinn face the Hong Kong media

Hong Kong - AS IF having Zac Purton, Joao Moreira and Karis Teetan among a raft of talented jockeys wasn’t enough, the pool of Hong Kong Jockey Club riders has deepened with the additions of Blake Shinn and Lyle Hewitson ahead of the 2019/20 season opener at Sha Tin on Sunday.

Hewitson is a precocious twotime champion jockey in South Africa; Shinn is a former Sydney champion riding into town off a hot streak in Australia. Both were unveiled at a media gathering yesterday morning and both stressed that their being there was the fulfilment of a long-held “dream”.

Hewitson, 21, has been turning heads beyond his homeland for a couple of years now. One year ago he became the first South African apprentice to claim the overall national title since Michael Roberts in 1973; his second title, achieved this summer, set a new record haul of 219 wins.

“I’m really blessed to be in this position,” he said. “It wasn’t necessarily a decision: I was in a position that I was doing really well for a great stable at home but this opportunity was something I couldn’t turn down.”

Shinn and Hewitson are eager to get going on Sunday with the former booked for eight rides and the latter for five, so far.

“I’m really looking forward to Sunday,” Hewitson said. “To have five rides on such a competitive card, I’m pretty proud of that. I’m appreciative of every single one of the rides and I think they’re competitive in their respective fields. If I can hit the board running pretty early that would be a great start. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m going to make the most of it.