MEDIA SPOTLIGHT ON CANADIAN LASS WHEN TOP JOCKEYS STEP OUT

CANADA'S Chantal Sutherland stole the show when the riders competing in the 2009 Cathay Pacific International Jockeys’ Championship were presented to the media at Happy Valley on Tuesday afternoon.

Sutherland, the jockey who also works as a model, had a raft of frenzied photographers clicking their cameras as she upstaged local superstars Douglas Whyte, Matthew Chadwick and Howard Cheng as well as other high profile international jockeys.

Sutherland, 33, rides in Hong Kong for the first time tomorrow night and it is the only second time she has ridden on a right handed track in a career which began after she completed university studies.

"I rode in Barbados in 2004-2005.  The first race I rode in there was on New Year's Day and I won and that's the only other time I have ridden on a right handed course but I am really looking forward to tomorrow night. This track [Happy Valley] is amazing....right in the middle of the city, it's an incredible sight,” she said.

Sutherland, who is currently second in the jockeys’ championship at Woodbine in Toronto, is certainly familiar with turf racing despite her North American and Canadian experience and is hopeful she can do well in the Hong Kong series.

"My best numbers are on grass and my strike rate is good over the longer trips and on longshots. This track is tight but I'm used to that. There's a hairpin bend at Woodbine and the track in Barbados was very compact. I'm honoured to be here and looking forward to tomorrow night. I just hope to get the best from my horses and would love to win a race,” she said.

Local champion Douglas Whyte said he was “hopeful” of a fourth CXIJC win.

“I probably don't have the best rides on paper but my horses all handle the Valley pretty well,” he said.

 

Star apprentice Matthew Chadwick was more confident. "I've got some decent chances and I am fresh and ready to go after a suspension,” he said.

Visiting riders Ryan Moore and William Buick said they were enthusiastic about competing against the world's best.

"This is my first time in Hong Kong and it's great to be here,” said Buick, "I haven't had a chance yet to go through the form but I hope that one or two of mine can run well.”

Moore has not ridden a winner in his two previous CXIJC attempts. "It looks pretty tough for me again, but hopefully I can have some luck because I am very keen to win one of these races and maybe the series one time,” he said.

Yasunari Iwata, from Japan, gained worldwide attention when he won the Melbourne Cup in 2006 and hopes his 2008 experience in Hong Kong will help him this year. “It's a tricky track but I know more about it now and I am very happy to be invited back,” he said.

Australia's Hugh Bowman also gained some media attention when he arrived with just a few seconds to spare to join in the individual and group photographs. “I wanted to make a grand entrance,” joked Bowman shortly before he joined Sutherland on a tour of the track.

"It's going to be a great night and it's fantastic to be here,” said Bowman who has had only one previous ride in Hong Kong on Red Oog, ninth in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin in 2006.

Johnny Murtagh, Andreas Suborics and Joe Talamo also attended the presentation where Mr William A Nader, the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director of Racing, gave each rider a memento of their visit to Hong Kong.

HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB MEDIA RELEASE & PHOTOGRAPH