'You need a stable and I don't have one' - De Sousa leaving for Hong Kong

Three-time British champion jockey Silvestre de Sousa will ride in Hong Kong for the foreseeable future after deciding better opportunities lie there.

De Sousa, who was crowned leading rider for the first time in 2015 before winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018, has been granted a licence by the Hong Kong Jockey Club from August 20 until February 20, having ridden 91 winners there during his four previous stints.

Released from his King Power Racing contract last year, De Sousa has ridden 31 winners this year at a strike-rate of ten per cent – his lowest since 2007 – and will cut his British campaign short and head to Hong Kong on August 23, the earliest he has ever done so.

The 41-year-old said: "The way British racing is, if you don't have a retainer, you're going around every day just for one or two rides. You need to be established with a stable and I'm not at the moment.

"I told myself I've been in Hong Kong before and that I didn't want to miss the opportunity to go out there again. It's a nice environment and the prize-money is very good.

"You have to work hard and I hope to have support from the trainers when I arrive. It needed a lot of thinking as it's not an easy move when you have a family with young kids, but it's the way it goes sometimes."

De Sousa enjoyed a notable spell in the Far East during the winter of 2018-19, when he rode 44 winners during a short period, which included the Hong Kong Cup aboard Glorious Forever.

Glorious Forever: a big winner for De Sousa in Hong Kong in 2018Credit: Masakazu Takahashi

He won an international jockeys' challenge there in 2018 and hopes to rekindle previous links he made with trainers.

De Sousa will also ride in Singapore at the Lion City Cup meeting at Kranji racecourse on August 14, when he will partner the Stephen Crutchley-trained Fame Star in the feature race before his final week in Britain.

He added: "The people are very grateful and the trainers always looked out for me and got me rides. I'm very lucky I've already ridden a few winners in big races out there. You're retained by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and you're a freelance out there.

"I'll be coming back to spend a week in Britain and I hope I can have a few more winners before heading over there, and having some good winners in Asia too."

De Sousa will join Harry Bentley as a former British-based rider plying his trade in Hong Kong, while Neil Callan enjoyed an 11-year spell there before his return to Britain last year.

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