Kei sets no limit to effort

07/07/2016

It takes years of practice to shine for a minute. While a race at the racecourse only lasts for one or two minutes, the hard work behind the action is extraordinary.

Kei Chiong's day starts at 4am. First she rides horses at track work until 8:30am, then she returns to the Apprentice Jockeys School's dormitory to freshen up. After breakfast she jumps on a mechanical horse to practice her riding technique.

"Track work helps enhance my riding skills while riding on a mechanical horse improves my riding posture," she explains. "If it is not a race day, I will also spend at least one hour per day training in order to strengthen my core muscles, pulling and pushing power, as well as use of a whip."

After half a day's work and training, Kei will take a rest and have lunch. Afterwards she returns to the stable for work and at dusk she goes to the gymnasium to attend fitness training.

"I have to ride a number of horses at every race meeting and it represents a great demand on my physical strength," she says. "Therefore, I have to take part in different kinds of training daily, including balance training on a fitness ball as well as doing chin-ups and weightlifting to improve arm power. I will also go for a jog outdoors for one to two hours in my spare time, so as to improve my stamina."

Even though Kei has to do similar exercises every day, she never gets tired of them: "Being a jockey, you have to make endless effort – but it will pay off in the end. These exercises are crucial to jockeys, and practice makes perfect."

The apprentice rider, already the winning-most female jockey in Hong Kong racing history, shows not a trace of complacency about the good results she has achieved this season. She keeps at her training routine each day without exception.

"I don't believe that there is a shortcut to success. You can achieve success only if you persist with hard work," she says.

The Jockey Club's latest round of racing trainee recruitment has already started. Kei urges youngsters to be courageous in pursuing their dreams: "If you are ready, you can make good use of an offer of opportunity. Once you have decided to apply for the programme, you have to set a goal for yourself and persevere with it to the end. In this way, you may be successful one day."