MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL…

(Courtesy of http://www.fasttrack.hk)

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 1
(Source: LOL Snaps)

Together with our Mothership and often it can be a real mutha of a ship that is the SS Racingb*tch, we asked racing fans to name their choices for the Top Ten Jockeys in the world- not Oz, not the UK, not Hong Kong- but the world.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 2
(Source: Tumblr)

The answers were varied, the answers went off down long and winding roads, but here’s the Top Whatever- it just could not be whittled down to ten- in no particular order of importance.

Olivier Peslier

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 3
(Source: Zimbio)

Christopher Lemaire

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 4
(Source: The Age)

Gerard Mosse

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 5
(Source: Punters Paradise)

Hugh Bowman

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 6
(Source: Herald Sun)

Douglas Whyte

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 7
(Source: The Punters Forum)

Craig Williams

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 8
(Source: Daily Telegraph)

Yasunari Iwata

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 9
(Source: Zimbio)

Maxime Guyon

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 10
(Source: Giampaolovimercati)

Zac Purton

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 11
(Source: SCMP)

Ryan Moore

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 12
(Source: Racing Post)

Joao Moreira

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 13
(Source: Punters Paradise)

Christophe Soumillon

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 14
(Source: British Champions Series)

Joel Rosario

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 15
(Source: Hispanically Speaking News)

Michael Rodd

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 16
(Source: Punters Paradise)

From here, we were reminded of the greats who have ridden in Hong Kong and now are retired or,sadly, no long with us.

Jeez, this Who’s Who of racing has the makings of a movie- kinda like The Magnificent Seven meets Ocean 11 and The Guns Of Navarone.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 17
(Source: Wikia)

Geoff Lane

Geoff Lane

(Source: Brisbane Racing)

Brent Thomson

Brent Thomson

(Source: The Age)

Michael Kinane

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 20

(Source: Telegraph)

Felix Coetzee

Felix Coetzee

(Source: Summer Hill)

Kieren Fallon

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 21
(Source: Guardian)

Pat Eddery

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 22
(Source: Telegraph)

Bill Hartack

Jockey Bill Hartack Pointing to Calendar
(Source: Paulick Report)

Gary Stevens

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 24
(Source: Turner)

Brian Taylor

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 25
(Source: Betfair)

Lester Piggott

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 26
(Source: Guardian)

Philippe Paquet

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 27
(Source: Racing World)

Johnny Roe

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 28
(Source: Daily Mail)

Tony Cruz

tony cruz

(Source: HKJC)

Darren Beadman

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 30
(Source: SMH)

To this list add Glen Boss, Chris Munce, Kevin Moses, The Gauch, Steven King, Danny Nikolic, Damien Oliver, Michael Rodd, of course, the ubiquitous Gary Moore, David Brosnan, racing’s answer to the Eveready Battery bunny that is Robert Thompson, the great Bart Leisher, the first South African jock to ride in Hong Kong, the UK’s Daryl Holland and Philip Robinson, Danny Brereton, the very underrated Nigel Tiley, Eric Saint Martin who could have been anything except his old man- the legendary Yves Saint Martin, below, and too many others to mention.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 31
(Source: HKJC)

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 32
(Source: Jockey Site)

Wait: That would be a cop out so we’ll mention South African great Basil Marcus who ruled the riding ranks for so long and has always reminded us of Craig Williams, another who cut his teeth riding here.

SEPARATED AT BIRTH?

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 33
(Source: Summer Hill)

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 34
(Source: Punters Paradise)

Then there were the trainers- George Moore, Jerry Ng Chi-lam, Brian Kan, Ivan Allan and, er, Patrick Biancone aka The King Cobra Man who “re-created” himself in the States as the Medicine Man of racing and The Horse Whisperer in reverse.

He and his Miss Hong Kong wife Elaine Sung at that time were just too much to bear for us simple folk. It was all just too Pepe Le Peu and tres pretentiousness.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 35
(Source: Discuss)

On the periphery were the computer syndicates- a few very successful, the others quickly hitting the DELETE buttons, the mysterious Michael Sebastian who left the world just as mysteriously,and lawyer Gary Allerdice who was found shot to death in Vladivostok together with his Russian girlfriend who he was trying to buy out from the clutches of the mafia.

A character in life, a mystery in violent end – SCMP

There were the racing television personalities Bill Tung-biu, Parkey and Wadey, Bob Saunders aka Captain Midnight, Ken Martinus, The Jockey, Mocambo, The Bull And Bear, the Dickens Bar, The Shanghai Syndicate, Albert Yeung, footballers Derek Currie and Walter Gerrard and the looniest CEO the HKJC has ever hired- Larry Wong- who always wore shirts that seemed to be suffocating him. They must have been the Crocodile brand.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 36
(Source: HKJC)

There might be a million stories in The Naked City, but racing and Hong Kong hold over twenty million stories, most of which will never ever be whispered even in private.

Were those the good old days? No, today are the good old days though the past had its moments.

But thinking back, they were pretty dark days wrapped in pretty colored packaging with some of the greatest names in racing riding here alongside an undercurrent of danger.

Quite a few were lucky to find the right keys to leave this Hotel California while staring at those mirrors on the ceiling and with the pink champagne still on ice.

Whatever it was, it sure makes for a great film script that Martin Scorsese or Quentin Tarantino could get their teeth into together with Wong kar-wai or Stephen Chau.

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL 37
(Source: On Violence)

This entry was posted in CRAIG WILLIAMS, DOUGLAS WHYTE, GERARD MOSSE, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hong Kong Racing, Horse Racing, Tony Cruz, www.fasttrack.hk, zac purton and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL…

  1. Naomi Wood says:

    I don’t think that is a photo of Brent Thomson, it looks more like Steven King.

  2. Earl Klein says:

    Felix Coetzee???

  3. Brendan Woodman says:

    The photo of Brent Thomson is actually S R King

  4. Naomi Wood says:

    Ahha – now that is Brent Thomson! I should also mention that the signed photo of Geoff Lane which you have taken from Justracing.com.au and have used on three occasions now, actually belongs to me – I will accept any donations but give you my permission to use it again!!!

  5. Dawie says:

    One very notable omission, Michael (Muis) Roberts. Only jockey to be Champion rider in South Africa and the UK and a Japan Cup win on a serious long shot (beating champion Hishi Amazon by a short head)

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