If things had spanned out differently for James Orman, he would now be back in Australia chasing his third consecutive Metropolitan Queensland Jockey Premiership.
He didn’t hesitate to snap up an offer of a short-term six-week contract to ride in Hong Kong to cover a sudden shortage of jockeys, but before it expired on April 2 his contract was extended until the end of the season.
In what is regarded as the world’s most competitive racing jurisdiction for both horses and jockeys, snaring a ride in any of Sunday’s three Group 1 races on FWD Champions Day is a notable and sought-after achievement.
And for 27-year-old Orman to be offered the ride on Francis Lui-trained Copartner Prance in the HK$22 million Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize (1200m) after only a couple of months in Hong Kong is another highlight in career where he has ridden more than 1300 winners.
“I am very excited,” Orman said. “It’s awesome and great to be in that sort of race on a world stage like that and I have to thank Francis Lui and the connections for having me on.
“He is a horse I have ridden in his last few starts now and I know him pretty well. He is a horse that has got good speed and he makes his own luck on speed.
“It’s a very tough race but you have to be in it to win it.”
Copartner Prance is on a seven-day back-up after failing to beat a runner home on the all-weather track at Sha Tin last Sunday after racing handy but fading in the 1200m race.
The tall jockey is hoping for both an improved run, suspecting the gelding just didn’t handle his first run on the dirt course.
“His two previous runs before that were good and he ran fourth to Ka Ying Rising and he ran second to Frankie Lor’s Lucky With You,” he said.
“So, his form before his last run was really good. If you go through his form, he is a consistent horse and this is a step-up obviously but he is a horse, who as I said, makes his own luck up on the speed.
“I am just happy to be in the race.”
With Orman supporting the popular theory that beating Ka Ying Rising rates as mission impossible, he concedes a lot of the field are running for the minor prize.
“If you could run second, third or fourth, it would be awesome,” he said. “But who knows, it’s racing and anything can happen.”
Orman sees Hong Kong as the next step in his career but concedes it would have been nice to win another jockey premiership.
“I have been away eight weeks now and I am still only five (wins) behind after they (rival Queensland jockeys) just caught me,” he said.
“Before that I missed three weeks riding in Dubai and I missed six weeks when I got my finger tip bitten off by a horse, so I have missed a lot of the season back home and they have only just caught me.”
Orman said it was always been his ambition to ride in Hong Kong and so far he has had four winners in eight weeks and concedes it’s a tough environment.
“It’s awesome and I love it,” he said.
His wife Heidi and their two children Hallie and Floyd are also loving the experience and with a little bit of luck they’ll be calling Hong Kong home for a while yet.
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