The Sport That Never Stands Still

One Week in the Ever-Intriguing World of Racing

Racing – like Mother Earth itself – has never been short of doomsday predictions. Yet, like the planet we occupy, it has proved remarkably resilient: absorbing the noise, weathering the pressure, and, year after year, turning over another day.

Last week, a former Australian racing executive, James Mathers, wrote on a Facebook blog that if racing is to survive the next decade, it will have to confront some uncomfortable truths. He argued that the sport has become too expensive, too inaccessible, and too poorly governed to sustain itself.

Coming from a part of the world which has long been a global benchmark for consistent industry growth and bloodstock excellence, those views expressed carry weight and cannot be brushed aside. There are pressures on the industry, worldwide, that are real and visible.

Racing, however, has a habit of refusing to buckle under strain. Like a stubborn wrestler on the canvas, on the brink of the three-count, it finds unexpected ways to flip and get back up. It keeps giving us the unscripted stuff no other sport can match with such frequency: drama, the odd bit of comedy, and those raw, emotional moments that land when you’re not expecting them. That’s why, despite the noise, we’ve kept going.

A quick scan of the stories racing produces week after week, around the world, shows just how alive it remains. It still captures attention, draws people in, and gives them a reason to come back. With a constant stream of moments, characters and emotion, it’s a natural fit for social media, delivering exactly the kind of content younger audiences engage with. This, more than anything, will be what carries the sport’s future.

Last Sunday, sprinting sensation Ka Ying Rising won the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint at Sha Tin Racecourse, setting a new track record of 1:07.10 for 1200m and bettering his own previous mark. His 20 consecutive victories is the longest winning streak in Hong Kong history, and he has amassed nearly HK$150 million in prize money.

Champions attract feet, and betting turnovers. Ka Ying Rising carried a record HK$94.4 million in World Pool Win bets on his shoulders last week. The previous highest Win pool for a World Pool race stood at HK$63.8 million – also set by him when he won the Group 2 Sprint Cup – nearly 30% less.

Interestingly, a social media poster – on the hunt for “the loudest fans” – used a sound level meter at Sha Tin Racecourse and recorded a reading in the high 90s decibels as the crowd roared Ka Ying Rising home, roughly comparable to a motorcycle at close range. It may well be a record for a racing crowd, but it remains some way short of the Guinness-recognised 142 decibels recorded at an NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium in October 2013.

In the United States, Saturday sees the running of the 152nd Kentucky Derby – a race steeped in its customary spectacle and heritage – yet this year carries a thread of sadness that could, in time, turn into a feel-good story.

One of the leading contenders is So Happy, a three-year-old colt trained by Mark Glatt, who has yet to saddle a runner in the Kentucky Derby in a 30-year career.

So Happy’s road to potential glory began on 11 January, when he captured the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park and was warmly welcomed into the winner’s enclosure by Glatt and his connections, including his wife, Dena.

Tragically, just over a month later, Dena died of heart failure. Reflecting on the woman he met in the 1990s while she was waitressing in a private suite at a racetrack, Glatt said: “Dena was my most devoted supporter. She was always by my side at the track. If I had horses racing, she would be there almost every day. She was always so happy.”

Now, the resonance between the colt’s name and Dena’s spirit has taken on a far deeper meaning. In the midst of grief, it has offered Glatt a measure of hope.

So Happy will be ridden by two-time Derby winner Mike Smith, who has been nick-named ‘Grandpa’ by his colleagues and could become the oldest rider to win the famous race, following 54-year-old Bill Shoemaker’s success on Ferdinand in 1986.

In the UK the sensational Luke Littler, the youngest world champion in darts history, has decided to venture into horseracing. The 19-year-old has joined forces with fellow darting professional Stephen Bunting and football legend Michael Owen to purchase a thoroughbred.

The partners have named their horse, ‘Bunting Metal’, in keeping with the darts theme. He’s a big colt by the Kodiak stallion, Ardad, who will be trained by Hugo Palmer at Owen’s Manor House Stables.

If South African racing promises anything, it is the unexpected. Headlined ‘Tarry and Michel Stop the Buffalo’ by The Sporting Post, Tuesday saw French jockey Mickaëlle Michel guide outsider Jerusalem Rain to a stirring victory over champion sprinter Buffalo Storm Cody in the R500,000 TAB Gr2 Senor Santa Stakes at Turffontein Racecourse.

Michel has made quite the impression in her five months in South Africa, winning over trainers and punters alike while climbing to just outside the top 20 on the National Log with 20 winners. Her recent sponsorship with SplashOut hints at a longer stay, and speaks volumes for the local industry, considering she has ridden successfully in 14 countries and can afford to pick her base.

Behind Jerusalema Rain’s success lies a familiar racing truth: that the sport is often strengthened by generational instinct and shared wisdom. Sean Tarry explained: “My son Daniel deserves credit for this one, as he encouraged me to buy the horse when he came up for sale. I was not quite sure as he was an older horse and may come with issues. But he said, ‘Dad, you can’t go wrong. His juvenile form is strong,’ so we bought him.”

Few examples better illustrate racing’s generational strength than the legacy of Jeff Lloyd, the master jockey who amassed 14 titles across three countries, including three Queensland Premierships after his move from South Africa to Australia.

Now, the next chapter is being written by his sons. Zac (22) has already ridden well in excess of 500 winners and is viewed as a future superstar of Australian racing, while Jaden (23), back in action after a break, has over 300 winners to his name and last week booted home a double at the Gold Coast Turf Club, including a success for Chris Waller.

Jeff laid the foundations for his sons’ careers by establishing Lloyd Racing Management Services, helping to secure rides for Zac and Jaden while guiding them through the often-turbulent early years of the profession.

Zac has already begun to repay that faith, with two Grade 1 victories to his name –including the recent $5-million TAB Golden Slipper – and has now been secured by Justin Snaith for a ride in the 2026 Hollywoodbets Durban July.

Another shining example of racing’s generational depth is Luke Ferraris, son of former trainer David Ferraris and grandson of South African Hall of Famer Ormond Ferraris.

Still early in his career, Ferraris has already proven himself as a rider of real substance. He produced a career-best 47 winners in the fiercely competitive cauldron of Hong Kong racing to secure a top-five finish last season, and continues to build on that momentum with another strong run in the current season.

There’s a neat twist to it all: Jeff Lloyd was stable jockey to Ormond Ferraris for years – and now Lloyd’s sons and Ferraris’ grandson, are making headlines around the world.

Perhaps the most commercially successful of them all is Douglas Whyte, who rode with Jeff Lloyd and frequently for David Ferraris during his extraordinary 13-year reign as Hong Kong’s champion jockey, and has since made a seamless transition to training. Whyte saddled three winners at Happy Valley this week, one of them collecting a $1-million sales bonus.

It is mildly amusing to note that both Douglas Whyte and Luke Ferraris have picked up traces of an Australian accent, a by-product of the strong Australian influence within Hong Kong racing.

But when it comes to natural accents, nothing quite matched Race Coast presenter MJ Byleveld in conversation with fellow Afrikaner Richard Fourie at Kenilworth last Tuesday – conducted entirely in their mother tongue.

What at first seemed like a light-hearted nod to the so-called “Dutchies” of racing, soon revealed itself as a well-executed and thoroughly professional interview. Word is that Race Coast may expand its Afrikaans coverage – a development that feels both refreshing and, in the context of broader trends in South African society, somewhat unexpected.

Again, underlining racing’s capacity to surprise, Mike de Kock and Mathew de Kock saddled two winners at Turffontein Racecourse on Thursday with horses they had advised the owners, Jayson and Preshalin Murugasa, not to back.

As it turned out, while the De Kocks and the Murugasas were fishing on Jayson’s farm, the double came in… at 100-1.

The good ending to it all is that everyone saw the humour in it. Mike de Kock summed it up perfectly: “This is racing, as unpredictable as ever!”

Meanwhile, young Liam de Kock, son of Mathew, caught his first fish on the same day and proudly posed for a photo alongside his father, who just happened to be wearing the cap of the stable’s sponsor, Lucky Fish.

Just another week in the endlessly intriguing world of horseracing.