Australian jockey Tommy Berry follows Moreira out of Hong Kong exit door

Tommy Berry, who rode cult hero Pakistan Star to victory in the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup at Sha Tin last month, will leave Hong Kong to return home to Australia.

The news follows hot on the heels of superstar rider Joao Moreira's revelation that he would be departing Hong Kong to try his luck in Japan.

Quoted on racing.com, Berry said a preference for a busier riding schedule – there are only two race meetings a week in Hong Kong – and his family's failure to settle were key factors behind the decision.

He said: "I've got a young family, we've got three kids under the age of three and a half, and the youngest is only still a baby.

"It was always going to be a challenge coming back to Hong Kong this season with a young family and, to be honest, they haven't settled in as well as we would have liked."

He added: "The second reason why I am keen to come back home is that I am just not riding enough over here. I'm getting seven or eight rides at Sha Tin on a Sunday and maybe three or four during the week at Happy Valley.

"That is only about 12 rides a week and I want to be riding more than that."

Further changes to the riding roster were also unveiled, with veterans Brett Prebble and Olivier Doleuze replaced by South Africans Callan Murray and Grant van Niekerk, who have been granted licences for the first six months of the season.

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