Hewitson overwhelmed by his welcome in Japan

FOR Lyle Hewitson the differences between riding in Hong Kong and Japan are remarkable.

The South African champion jockey has been overwhelmed by the welcome he has received in the “land of the Rising Sun”.

“I settled in straight away,” said Hewitson yesterday. “When I arrived I was met at the airport by my translator. I am staying with him and on my first night he took me to have dinner with his family. On the second night we had dinner with one of the trainers.

“During the day I got my paper work done, opened a bank account and met the media.

“Everyone is so respectful and kind, they really want to please and that makes you feel at home.”

As opposed to his stint in Hong Kong when it took him almost six months to ride his first winner, the 22-year-old got off the mark at his first race meeting last Saturday and then added to his success with a double on Sunday.

In his first two days’ riding in Japan he already equalled the number of winners he rode in seven months in Hong Kong.

His first win on Sunday came up in Race 1 over 1800m, where he scored on second favourite Le Conte Bleu for trainer Kazahiro Seishi. In Race 6 he struck again on hot favourite Schedar for Toru Korita. This three-year-old was scoring his second win in as many starts, and came home by a comfortable 1.5 lengths.

And following a further second and fourth, he crowned it all with third in the showcase of the day – the Grade 2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen. He partnered Authority for Tetsuya Kimura and the colt was beaten just over two lengths.

“The winner is a serious Derby hope, so I don’t mind losing to a top horse,” said Hewitson.

He now has to get used to weekends in lockdown. “On Friday evening you go into a jockey quarantine and you stay there until Sunday. The place is like a hostel at a boarding school. It’s very nice, you each have your own room but you have no contact with the outside world.

“It’s very boring but if you need to lose weight or study form you have ample time. I suppose that if you use the time well, it’s quite beneficial.

“After races you just love to go home. But you realise how much time you spend on the phone.”

He admits that he is not sure what would happen if there was an emergency and somebody had to get hold of you. “They have a reception guy and a lady in the kitchen, so I assume one can get hold of them if necessary.”

He was well treated by all the other jockeys although language remains a barrier. “I don’t have my translator with me so it’s hard to communicate. There were some jockeys from Europe and they speak English but that’s all.”

They have local racing, known as NAR, and the JRA, which is private racing which is the bigger racing events. “Racing is usually on a Saturday and Sunday but next week we have three meetings, starting on Friday. There are three major courses and if you are riding at different courses on the weekend you then either go by train or fly to the next venue.

“First race starts at 10.10am so by 4.30pm it’s all over and you can move to the next racecourse.”

However, Hewitson was unsure how that would affect the quarantine rules.

Already on Twitter, he is getting people asking him to ride a particular horse. “It’s very nice, but I’m not sure whether they own the horse or it is just one of their favourites and they would like to see me ride it,” he laughed.

While things in Hong Kong did not work out, Hewitson says the learned a lot and points out that had he not gone to Hong Kong, he wouldn’t have got the job in Japan. “Hong Kong was tough for me and at times, I was trying to hard to get winners.

“I got on well with the trainers and the people but as much as they liked me as a person, the owners saw me as unlucky and didn’t want me on their horses.

“Sure, it tested me mentally but I’m an optimistic person and I never let it get to me.”