SAf Gr1s Boost Ferraris Before Hong Kong

Two-time South African Champion Apprentice jockey Luke Ferraris is about to commence riding in Hong Kong thanks to Group 1 winners at home, reports scmp.com. "There was always the line of thought that maybe he needed that step in Australia (before riding in Hong Kong) but he kept blossoming in South Africa and with his connections here it just seemed to be the right peg in the right hole," said Jockey Club licensing committee secretary Terry Bailey. Ferraris has won five Group 1 races this calendar year in South Africa, including the Gr1 Cape Town Met on Rainbow Bridge (Ideal World-Halfway to Heaven, by Jet Master) – see below – and the South African Triple Crown on 3YO colt Malmoos (Captain Al-Justthewayyouare, by Fort Wood). "To win the Triple Crown with two Group 1s in it was massive for me and it's impacted my career hugely," said Ferraris who grew up in Hong Kong due to his father David training there. "Obviously, growing up here I've seen how tough and competitive it is but the more success I had in South Africa, the more my confidence grew," he said. "If you'd asked me at the start of my career if I'd want to be in Hong Kong at 18 or 19, I probably would have laughed. But as time went on, riding in the big races and getting the results I was wanting to, Hong Kong became more of a dream turning into reality."