After 104 winless rides and some agonisingly close misses, Richard Kingscote was relieved to finally get the monkey off his back with a surprise win aboard Loch Tay at Sha Tin on Saturday.
The British jockey’s start to his second Hong Kong stint was no doubt frustrating, having to settle for nine seconds and as many thirds before the drought-breaking success.
“I’ve had lots of horses running well and the trainers and owners have been supporting me, to be fair, letting me keep riding a lot of the horses, but it’s nice to finally get a win on the board,” Kingscote said after booting home $21.05 chance Loch Tay in the Class Three Lukfook Joaillerie Handicap (1,650m) on the dirt.
“We all know how competitive it is in Hong Kong and it’s very fine margins. In the second race, in another stride I may well have won [on Cool Blue who ran second], but I feel I’ve had a little bit of bad luck with bad barriers.”
Trainer David Eustace credited Kingscote’s advice in testing Loch Tay on Sha Tin’s all-weather surface after the Irish import ran a well-beaten 11th on his local debut at Happy Valley.
Travelling just behind the leaders in fifth, Loch Tay was taken off the inside rail by Kingscote approaching the turn and worked to the lead 150m out despite laying in.
He kept on well to beat Dragon Air Force by three-quarters of a length.
“To be honest, he trialled on the dirt for the first time here because he’d been trialling on the grass at Conghua and he trialled well, so it was an obvious thing to do to bring him here,” Eustace said.
“Credit to Richard. He trialled him and said ‘there’s a mile Class Three on the dirt, why don’t we go there?’ and it made sense when he said it.
“I’m delighted for him – he’s just knocked on the door and had a series of very poor draws on horses with chances, so really pleased to get the monkey off his back and it will just instil a little confidence in everyone and him as well, I’m sure.”
While Eustace was confident Loch Tay would handle the dirt, he was surprised the Bated Breath three-year-old struck on his first start on the surface and second in Hong Kong.
“He trialled quite well at the Valley, went to the Valley and it was all a bit sharp, so I knew coming to a mile would help. But European horses and [private purchases], they don’t often get it all together in their second start,” Eustace said.
“We changed around a bit of gear because he had been hanging into the rail, so that obviously helped and it panned out and he picked up really well. I don’t think we change anything and just look for dirt races.”
Kingscote, who rode four winners on his first Hong Kong stint earlier this year, has maintained a positive mindset despite the luckless start to his campaign and hopes Saturday’s breakthrough is a sign of things to come.
“I’m working hard. I’m doing some very light weights, which I would never have done. I did 115lb a couple of weeks ago which I wouldn’t have seen in 15-plus years, so I’m putting in a lot of effort,” the 39-year-old said.
“I enjoy being here, so hopefully that was the first of a few [winners].”
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