There was a time when Keith Yeung contemplated retirement, but on Sunday afternoon (22 March) at Sha Tin, he\u2019ll take a ride for one of Hong Kong\u2019s most successful trainers in the race that everyone in the city wants to win.<\/p>
On track for one of his best seasons yet, a resurgent Yeung will partner Juneau Pride in the HK$26 million 149th BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) for 13-time Hong Kong Champion Trainer John Size. It is a unique chance that came as a surprise to the 37-year-old.<\/p>
\u201cI was actually looking for a job as a work rider a few seasons back. I went to a few trainers and asked them if they wanted a work rider. I was going to finish up, and I was serious about it. Somehow though, I started training hard and taking it more seriously, and it just turned. It started to fall together, and now it\u2019s amazing,\u201d Yeung said.<\/p>
Yeung has experienced the highs and lows of professional sport \u2013 including lean spells, crushing falls and injuries \u2013 and in the ultra-competitive cauldron of Hong Kong racing, he knows that experience can mean very little in comparison to your last win, and that riding opportunities and associations with connections count for everything. \u00a0<\/p>
\u201cI am lucky. I have a few nice horses and long-supporting owners. They trust me, they have faith in me, and they never doubt me. It just makes your job so much easier; it gives you the confidence,\u201d Yeung said.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15489″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Now in his 18th season, Yeung has 15 winners \u2013 including a recent double \u2013 after 54 of the 88 scheduled race meetings. It\u2019s a position that is poles apart from his lowest returns of eight (2019\/20) and nine wins (2020\/21) before he rallied to scores of 18 (2023\/24) and 20 (2024\/25).<\/p>
Overall, Yeung has won 339 races in Hong Kong since debuting in 2008\/09 as an apprentice with former trainer Almond Lee. Support has been broad for the rider this season, too, winning for the likes of Francis Lui, David Hayes, Danny Shum and Size.<\/p>
\u201cI\u2019m fortunate to get the support from John Size and the owners. I\u2019m grateful, and hopefully I can give everything and do my best for the horse,\u201d Yeung said. \u201cIt came about after trials. I was on my own in the paddock and John came up to me and said, \u2018What are you riding in the Derby?\u2019 and I replied, \u2018Nothing, of course\u2019, and he responded with \u2018Okay, you\u2019re riding my horse \u2013 he might get in, so text me after entries come out\u2019.<\/p>
\u201cIt was something I wasn\u2019t even worrying about, but then I started to panic, and I was asking everyone when the Derby entries come out. I asked the press and jockeys, but it\u2019s a nice surprise and I am very, very grateful for the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>
Success this Sunday would be Yeung\u2019s biggest. He won the 2020 G3 Premier Plate Handicap (1800m) on Dances With Dragon, and although the affable jockey is yet to ride Juneau Pride in competition, he has trialled the three-time winner previously ahead of the Pride Of Dubai gelding\u2019s first race beyond 1400m in the BMW Hong Kong Derby.\u00a0<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column]
Keith Yeung partners Juneau Pride in a barrier trial at Conghua on 30 December, 2025.<\/p>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
\u201cI have trialled him twice at Conghua. I do know him, but not as well as Brenton (Avdulla) does, of course, but he\u2019s a lovely ride, especially with the hood on. You can literally put him anywhere in the race.<\/p>
\u201cWe won\u2019t know about the distance, no one will know, but we\u2019ll wait for the draw to come out and hope for the best in the race,\u201d Yeung said.<\/p>
Master trainer Size has won the BMW Hong Kong Derby with Fay Fay (2012), Luger (2015) and Ping Hai Star (2018) among 1,643 career wins in Hong Kong since the 2001\/02 season. Juneau Pride comes into the race following a closing second to fellow BMW Hong Kong Derby entrant Emblazon over seven furlongs on 1 March.<\/p>
And after taking six rides at Happy Valley on Wednesday night (18 March) \u2013 Perfecto Moments, Regrowth Winner, Magic Super, Automated, Kingly Demeanor and Withallmyfaith \u2013 in preparation, Yeung hopes to make the most of his opportunity when 14 emerging talents head to the gates searching for once-in-a-lifetime glory at Sha Tin.<\/p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”15488″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” onclick=”link_image”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There was a time when Keith Yeung contemplated retirement, but on Sunday afternoon (22 March) at Sha Tin, he\u2019ll take a ride for one of Hong Kong\u2019s most successful trainers in the race that everyone in the city wants to win.On track for one of his best seasons yet, a resurgent… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15491,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"2normal","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15486"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15486"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15517,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15486\/revisions\/15517"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/campaigns.hkjc.com\/racing-event-hub-4yo-series\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}