Fresh from first-day double, Hamelin gets full book of rides

Apr 15, 2020 06:00 am

French jockey Antoine Hamelin started his Hong Kong career with a double bang last Sunday and he has been snapped up for the entire card tonight.

The 28-year-old has the honour of joining champions Joao Moreira and Zac Purton to be the only riders with a full book of rides at Happy Valley tonight.

Hamelin, who had to be quarantined for 14 days under the Covid-19 rule before he made his debut, said after scoring on Best For You: "I'm really happy, there's a lot of emotion. I didn't give it a big celebration because it didn't feel the right thing to do here, but I'm very happy inside.

"It's very important to win on my first day. That was my objective and now I want to go on and win another race."

And he did just that two races later on Baltic Success. He said: "It's a perfect first day for me. I'll try to continue and I have to say thank you to all the owners and trainers for the support and the chances they've given me."