Top Flat jockey on track for eighth century of winners takes up lucrative Hong Kong offer

Daily Mirror

5 days ago

Welshman David Probert, who regularly rides 1,000 horses a year, will move to the Far East in August where they only race twice a week
One of Britain's busiest jockeys is cutting short his season to take up a lucrative offer to ride in Hong Kong.
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Welshman David Probert, 36, who regularly rides nearly 1,000 horses a year, is on track to reach a century of winners in a year for the eighth time in his career. Nine days ago he recorded his biggest success of 2025 when steering Royal Ascot winner Never So Brave to victory in the Group 2 Summer Mile, his 21st Group winner.
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Yet he accepts that when the exciting Andew Balding-trained four-year-old has his next start the mount is likely to return to Oisin Murphy, if he's available.
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So when the Hong Kong Jockey Club offered him the chance to join a growing colony of riders of ex-British based riders in the Far East, he accepted.
The jockey from Bargoed in South Wales's Rhymney Valley, who has ridden 1,681 winners, will arrive with Derby winner Richard Kingscote to compete with the already established Harry Bentley and Andrea Atzeni for the first half of the season from September to February.
'I've always been consistent, riding 100 winners especially in the last six seasons, and I've probably been one of the busiest jockeys about, riding nearly 1,000 horses a year,' he told Mirror Racing.
'It's really difficult to compete with the top five jockeys in the country. The opportunities to have your chance in a Classic or a domestic Group 1 are few and far between. I've been riding for 20 years and to build my hopes up on gaining that Group 1 horse I could be waiting another five or ten years.
'For me as a rider I feel it would be beneficial to go to Hong Kong, open new horizons, new doors and challenge myself. The racing is very competitive, they have good prize-money. They only race twice a week but still the chances you get and the rewards are so much more beneficial.'
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Probert has made the most of his limited starts in Classic to finish second in the Derby and second in the 2,000 Guineas.
He went on: 'To ride a favourite in a Guineas you need to be in the right place at the right time, have a retained job or be riding first jockey for a big trainer. Even though the majority of my rides are from Andrew, we have Oisin riding at the top of his game. A lot of our owners have their own jockey.
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'I ride for a lot of different owners and trainers who have supported me massively and I enjoy riding for. This is about nothing more than me wanting to better myself as a jockey.
'I know it's going to be very difficult to start with because in Hong Kong they don't value you on your past success, they go by face value.
'I know I will have to build bridges, sell myself, book my own rides. It's an opportunity to better myself as a jockey and a person.
'I am really looking forward to it. I am always willingl to learn and if you want to learn more about international racing, Hong Kong is the best place to go.'