Capetonian Grant van Niekerk followed in the bootprints of Karis Teetan when the 27 year old made a winning Hong Kong debut on Sunday in his first ride in the very first race of the season.
The former Cape based Mauritian Magician, Teetan achieved the feat in 2013 and it set the foundation for a successful international career.
Grant van Niekerk will be hoping that things develop the same way for him and after opening the day at Sha Tin on Triumphant Jewel for trainer Jimmy Ting, he waited until the last to produce the grandstand finish of the day on the Tony Millard-trained World Record.
Van Niekerk told the Sporting Post that he couldn’t have asked for a better start.
“I’m truly blessed. It’s still up to me to build on it,”he told the Sporting Post.
Hong Kong racing continues at Happy Valley with an eight-race card on Wednesday, 5 September when this season’s Hong Kong Airlines Million Challenge will commence.
Grant van Niekerk is this coming weekend’s SP Personality Profile guest – read what he thinks about the people, the food and the racing in Hong Kong.
