Lyle Hewitson in Hong Kong

oscar wrote: Why would a top jock like Lyle want to return? He will do well in HK and carry on racing there.

100%.. There have been comments about Aldo/GvN/Murray etc with regards to the amount they were making compared to when they were here.... Imo, they did not go over to HK/Singapore with the reputation Lyle is going over there with. This could be seen with the rides they initially received (most rides where on long shots). Lyle will no doubt receive some very decent rides and will make a name for himself, this i am sure of.

Another thing, Lyle has been one of the hardest working Jocks on our shores since he became a fully fledged jock.. He rides pretty much 6 days a week every week throughout the year. Yes, i am sure he will still do work everyday, but he will not be doing half the milage he was doing while here.. He will earn packets more than what he was earning here for working a lot less hours.. He will gain invaluable knowledge from a jurasdiction that prides itself on tip top structures and performance etc etc etc etc...

I cannot see Lyle returning here anytime soon... Maybe when his time is eventually over in HK and his new challenge stares him in his face, we will see him off in Aus riding for another saffer namely MDK ......

I am speculating, as you all are. I do not know why he did not renew his license. I have no idea re the suspension process. But, renewed or not renewed, our suspension will count in HK, once finalised. This could be an interesting scenario.

However, I will tell you that success in HK is not a given, for any jock. Just one or two quiet days at the outset and a jock can very quickly be labelled as "unlucky" or "overrated" . In some ways, HK can be as fickle as Mauritius...
We all know that Lyle is top class. But, in HK, u still need a bit of luck to get u going.

Lets hope that lady luck smiles on Lyle, from the start.

Could Lyle not have served this from 1 Aug until 14 Aug and then get on with life? Good luck to the champ, so excited for him. Go show them!

At last , Doug Whyte gave Lyle a nice chance
Ride with some form.
Well ridden. Most jockeys would have been back in SA . Perseverance pays off
HK is extremely competitive and superstitious
SA jocks have what it takes to ride winners

Magic ... Class is permanent

Inevitable

....I recently caught the interview that a major Ozz TV (think it may have been a Sky sports channel)....where they interviewed 21 year old Reagan Bayliss on his return to Ozz.....now I do not know how hot he was in Ozz before he went to HK but there was a lot of press saying he had given up some potential big group race mounts in Melbourne to go to ride in HK......and he saw his @rse.....only 2 winners from 81 rides.....he explained that HK is very tough and you can get rides but not the right ones.....you have no agent.....you have very little idea of horse potential ....you chase for the rides you think may be better potential....you have to constantly market yourself to the trainers while riding work....they still give the better rides to more senior riders and those with better stats ....and you get what ever the top jocks dont want....so here is a place where your riding talent means far less than the ability to try find the right horses..... and one needs a great deal of luck that the right horses find you......BTW it was a very average (in HK) Frankel that gave Lyle his 1st winner.......:whistle:

I too think Lyle will do very well but remember he may not get the opportunity to stay even if he wants to. The HKJC decide whether he goes or stays. I remember well that when Felix first went over he also struggled until his champion horse arrived and that changed everything for him. Hopefully the same will happen for Lyle.

.....don't get me wrong but if Lyle is able to stay.....he may land up with similar stats as that of Bayliss and imo Lyle is 10 times better.....but without the ability to access horse potential.....man it is going to be a hard slog.....Lyle is a top rider however his local successes were due to the fact that he got in at the right stables with much better fire power
.....and like another good youngster Khumalo got to the top because he had the right people finding rides that were much better to get the type of strike rates that now Warren Kennedy is getting.....Warren has always been a good rider but did not have the support he has now.....in closed racing jurisdictions like Hong Kong the horse population is limited and has no really bad horses nor do they have throngs of really good horses and the abilities are pretty much the same.....this is why I quipped that Frankels outside of UK were "mediocre".....case in point Lyles 1st winner yesterday.....left Andre Fabre in France a 3 time winner one a Gr3 out of 6 runs......has battled in HK.....but I have been following it through thick and thin as I thought it was a much better specimen.....and seeing that Lyle was on it I decreased my swinger boxed bet but went big on places.....only because I thought that odds would blow out (as they did)......imo it was not much of a good ride.... but a lucky one as Lyle went out to steal the race with a mad pace....on a sloppy all weather surface ....and it worked.....:oops:

.......now we have all his supporters saying he is world class.....but watching the the race.....it was pure arse I really thought he had bottled it and would be dead at the 50 but lucky that the chasers caught the splash back....but I do hope he gets much better chances to really show that he is a better rider....:whistle:

The rest of the world doesn’t have an affiliate to HK racing like we do.

Lyle would be better in a major racing country like Australia or the U.K. with a chance to ride in Graded races

.....Bob the Ozzies and Kiwis are also big on HK.....but agree if you want the horse racing spotlight grab a few G1 classics in UK then you can be called world class....:whistle:

22 years young.