How Jerry Chau pulled off South Korea heist for Hong Kong

Jerry Chau will remember the moment for the rest of his career. Upright in his irons, finger pointing towards the grandstand at Seoul Racecourse and thumping his chest in disbelief, the 25-year-old jockey had just achieved something few thought possible: winning South Korea’s G3 Korea Sprint on his very first overseas mission, aboard a horse that had struggled to climb out of Class 3 company at Sha Tin.

For Chau, the win was not about the healthy prize money in Korea’s second-richest race – the winner took home over US$500,000 (HK$3.89 million) – it was about a homegrown rider, riding for a homegrown trainer, representing his city overseas and prevailing against a short-priced favourite partnered by none other than Japanese legend Yutaka Take.

“It’s amazing really,” Chau told Idol Horse. “Before the race, I was concerned about his rating – he was rated 30 points below the other horses – but he trialled well before and settled in well to his surroundings. I thought he could run a good race, but of course I was never really expecting that.”

The sense of shock that reverberated around Seoul and Sha Tin, where the race was simulcast to punters, made the success even sweeter for Chau. Self Improvement, who carried a rating of 83 in Hong Kong, had just four wins to his name at Sha Tin from 29 starts for Manfred Man.

“No one was giving him a chance and no one expected it, so it was a great feeling to cross the line,” Chau beamed. “We were very lucky. It kept raining up until the raceday and that made the surface suitable for him because then it was similar to the all weather track at Sha Tin.”

After Self Improvement jumped well and sat prominently throughout, Chikappa loomed ominously on his inside and it looked as though the six-year-old would have to settle for minor money.

But Chau, who cut his summer holiday short to secure the ride aboard Self Improvement, threw everything and the kitchen sink at the Deep Field gelding to rally in the closing stages and get the better of the 1.3 favourite.

“When the horse came up next to me I just thought, ‘wow, I need to beat this guy,’” Chau said. “Luckily, I felt Self Improvement had something left so I changed my whip to my right hand in the last 100m and the horse responded very well. He really tried everything to fight to the end.”

The pride of winning on the world stage as one of Hong Kong’s homegrown riders, on a horse trained by a homegrown handler, was not lost on Chau.

“It means a lot to us,” he added. “The stable put in a lot of hard work, the owner brought a big team to support us and for me it was very satisfying. I came back early over the summer and was lucky enough to get these rides – I think the hard work paid off.

“It’s a Hong Kong combo, like Golden Sixty. It was a big racecourse and there were a lot of people there and they welcomed me nicely. It was just an honour to go over there and represent Hong Kong.”

After his Korea Sprint success, Chau came within a length of a monumental double in Seoul. Group 3 winner Chancheng Glory was caught in the closing stages of the G3 Korea Cup by Japanese raider Diktaean.

What comes next for Self Improvement still remains uncertain. A Breeders’ Cup bid seems unlikely, but trips to Dubai or Saudi Arabia are realistic possibilities. Whatever the destination, Chau’s immediate focus remains closer to home: building on this momentum in Hong Kong, riding more winners and eventually continuing to seize opportunities abroad.

“I want to ride more winners in Hong Kong – that’s the first target – and then hopefully I can take any opportunities to ride overseas and get more experience,” Chau said. “People were talking about the Breeders’ Cup afterwards but I don’t think that’s happening, so a trip to Dubai or maybe Saudi Arabia would be great.” ∎

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