BRINGING ASIAN RACING TO THE WORLD
Vincent Ho will once again forego time off between Hong Kong seasons as the leading local rider chases more summer winners on the JRA and in England.
5 July 2023
Vincent Ho is never one to sit back and rest on his laurels and the Hong Kong rider is preparing to spring straight from a career-best season at home into a busy summer that will see him clock up long flight time to ride in Japan and Britain.
Japanese media revealed this week that Golden Sixty’s rider would be returning to Japan during the close season on a Japan Racing Association (JRA) licence for the second summer on the bounce, having ridden five winners there last year. But Ho has clarified that he will be breaking up that spell with a couple of weeks in England, sticking to the plan to ride in Britain as he had stated previously.
“I’m going straight to Japan for two weeks when the Hong Kong season ends, and then I will be in England from August 1 to the Shergar Cup (August 12). Afterwards, I will go straight back to Japan to ride before I return to Hong Kong,” he told Asian Racing Report.
Ho will ride at the five-day ‘Glorious’ Goodwood festival as well as the Shergar Cup jockeys’ challenge at Ascot, and in-between will return to the Middleham stable of Charlie Johnston for a few days. Hong Kong’s leading ‘homegrown’ rider has based himself at the Johnston stable previously, in 2018 and 2019, and is hoping to add to his seven British winners.
“The whole summer, I will be tired,” he said with wry humour, knowing that he still has tiring work to do to round out the long, demanding Hong Kong season on a peak note. But he would not have it any other way.
Before he heads off on his travels, Ho is hoping to become only the fourth rider in history to achieve a century of wins in a Hong Kong season. He is currently second in the premiership behind the runaway champion Zac Purton, and has 92 wins.
Achieving eight wins in just four remaining race meetings will be difficult, but he has been boosted by his recent form which has yielded six wins from the previous three fixtures.
“It’s going to be tough,” he added, “but why not?”
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