British three-time champion Silvestre de Sousa will travel to Hong Kong in the near future after deciding better opportunities lie there.
De Sousa, who was crowned top racer for the first time in 2015 before winning consecutive titles in 2017 and 2018, has been granted a license by the Hong Kong Racing Club from August 20 to 20, rode 91 winners there in his previous four terms.
Released from his King Power Racing contract last year, de Sousa has ridden 31 winners this year with a 10% strike rate – the lowest since 2007 – and will cut his UK campaign short. and arrived in Hong Kong on August 23, the earliest he has ever done so.
The 41-year-old said: “The British way of racing is, if you don’t have a follower, you go around every day just to go once or twice. You need to have a barn, and I’m not. right now.
“I told myself I’ve been in Hong Kong and I don’t want to miss the chance to go out there again. It’s a good environment and a very good bonus.
“You have to work hard and I hope to have support from the coaches when I arrive. It takes a lot of thought because it is not an easy move when you have a family with children. small, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.”
De Sousa enjoyed a remarkable feat in the Far East during the 2018-19 winter, when he took 44 winners in a short time, including the Longines Hong Kong Cup (G1) on board. Glory forever.
De Sousa and Glorious Forever win the 2018 Hong Kong Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse
He won the international jockey’ challenge there in 2018 and hopes to rekindle previous links he made with coaches.
De Sousa will also ride in Singapore at the Lion City Cup meeting at Kranji Racecourse on August 14, when he will partner with the Stephen Crutchley-trained Hall of Fame Star in the pre-final week’s feature race. he is in the UK.
He added: “Everyone is so grateful and the coaches have always taken care of me and let me ride. I’m very fortunate to have ridden a few winners of the big races out there. You get Hong Kong. Jockey keeps the Club, and you’re a freelancer.
“I’m going back to spend a week in the UK and I hope I can get a few more winners before I go there and have some good winners in Asia too.”
De Sousa will join Harry Bentley as a former British racing driver plying his trade in Hong Kong, while Neil Callan spent 11 years there before returning to the UK last year.
