Yip’s 800th HK hurray
HONG KONG – The latest trainer to reach the 800-win milestone with a Happy Valley double on Wednesday night, Dennis Yip immediately outlined his ambitions to press for 1,000 victories in the jurisdiction.
Yip became the sixth active Hong Kong trainer to achieve the mark by saddling a Class 5 brace at Happy Valley with Passing Fashion and Sunny And Gold, and the 2012/13 Hong Kong champion has no intentions of resting on his laurels.
A protege of the late legendary Hong Kong trainer Brian Kan, he joined Tony Cruz (1,420), John Size (1,418), Caspar Fownes (1,018), Ricky Yiu (906) and Francis Lui (802) to reach 800 wins.
Retired seven-time champion trainer John Moore holds the record with 1,735 wins.
“It’s another step on the way to 900 and 1,000, I’ll try my best,” said Yip, 55, before indicating he had several talented unraced newcomers at his disposal, along with a cluster of Class 5 horses.
“I think no problem for me, because I have many new horses that have got ability. Later, my new horses will show something. But, at the moment, I’m very strong in Class 5. I have got 14 or 15 Class 5 horses at the moment.”
Yip rode 59 winners between 1984 and 1993, after graduating from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Apprentice Jockeys’ School, before turning to training.
He famously snatched the 2012/13 championship from Cruz with 69 winners by taking the last race of the season. - HKJC
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