YIM H.K.

[hobbes]

Thursday, April 4, 2002
RACING Saint-Martin rages over Yim ride
ALAN AITKEN
An angry Eric Saint-Martin exploded at Sha Tin last night and was fined $20,000 for his outburst as fellow jockey Simon Yim Hin-keung narrowly missed yet another careless riding ban.
"I don't believe what is happening," cried out Saint-Martin after Mendoza was involved in an incident at the 200 metres from which Yim, who rode Celebration, escaped with a warning from the stewards. "I nearly get myself killed out there and they pat him on the shoulder and say don't do it again."
Saint-Martin said the interference to Mendoza cost his mount the sixth race in which he finished eighth. "They ask me if maybe I didn't have room to go where I went - I had plenty of room when I got there," he said.
"I am not stupid. If there is no room, I don't go there. He has no feeling for the horse, for the race, for the whole thing. My horse has been very badly checked and then still came back to run home at the finish. I risked my life and then they want to fine me $20,000 because I am not happy with the decision. I get seven days when I do this."
Last night, Yim was returning from his third five-day careless riding ban this season and must have gone perilously close to adding another penalty to his record before the warning.
Yim and Saint-Martin were not the only riders in the spotlight, though as Shane Dye endured an eventful night to emerge with two wins from his five rides, while two of the others, the John Size-trained Cogito and My Favourite, started favourite but suffered bleeding attacks.
has not st martin tangled with yim or some of the other locals in the past??
given fig jam did not have the cojones to take the run inside ting (?) recently it would seem the expat jock's confidence in the riding skills of the locals is at an alltime low!!
MORE PROBLEMS FOR THE HKJC.

[hobbes]

Else any look at this thread will find earlier "lost thread!"

[baldric]

Yim is a bloody cowboy and is 100-1 to be plying his trade again next season - riding boy will be more his go.
And we can also say farewell to Saint-Martin. He's got too many strikes against his name. Nobody talks to him in the jocks' room and he's dirty on the world.

[shapke]

I doubt whether there is an expat jockey brave enough to go rushing up inside a local in the final adrenalin-driven stages of any race except maybe an international G1.
Life is too cheap to the locals.
Even those who have not been on the wrong end of it make comments about the subject.
________
Lyiza (http://www.girlcamfriend.com/cam/Lyiza/)

[masun]

An article in today's Sing Pao Daily News by veteran writer Patrick Yu.
Culprit Not Penalised As Confusions Reigns
When the races were over, all the racing journos were busy writing their articles. All of a sudden there was the sound of a loud ear-piercing English swear word. Everybody looked up to see what happened. Out came from the enquiry room an angry Eric St-Martin who rushed upstairs to the jockey room. He was chased by two stipes on probation who took him back to the enquiry room.
Soon after, a JC higher-up was surrounded by fellow scribes arguing that Simon Yim's Celebration checked ESM's Mendoza at the straight, almost causing him to fall. The debate focused on whether it was fair to only warn but not penalise Simon Yim. As my colleague San Tusi Si (Cable TV Chinese female commentator, not sure what her proper English name is) has already said, the JC is in a state of confusion. After listening to the JC higher-up's explanation, I must say I feel the same way.
After the "313 Incident" which caused the JC to be lashed ferociously by the media and punters, the JC has been acting like a frightened bird that has lost all sense of directions. The JC brass said Simon Yim is a local jockey, and that the JC would be applauded by the local media for not penalising a local jockey. It was hoped that this would help to ease the tension between the media and the JC. What the brass didn't understand is that most journos, including San Tsui Si who argued against the decision so vehemently, know Simon Yim well. As the Chinese proverb says, "be on the side of fairness rather than family". Hong Kong is not a place overrun with nationalistic fervours. As far as the "313 Incident" is concerned, even if the roles of Sit and Whyte were reversed, I don't think the loud criticisms would have been any quieter. Only a small number of writers blamed the incident on racism and this is not a mainstream view.
It is not hard to understand why ESM reacted so strongly when he learned that Simon Yim was only warned. When K S Yu fell, it wasn't ESM's fault at all. He took the 7-day penalty without uttering a word. Now when he almost had to suffer the same fate as Yu, the culprit was given a reprieve. How could he be not angry? The JC brass said if Simon Yim were penalised again, he might not be able to keep his licence. Then isn't it perversion of justice to fine ESM $20,000?
Maybe the senior management of the JC is of the opinion that the media is dead set against it and is bent on causing troubles. Does the JC think that by not criticising the JC we will have no materials for writing our articles? Good medicine is bitter, honest advice not palatable. I've been involved in racing for 24 years. I really care about this 100-year old enterprise. The more I care about it, the more critical I am of it. I hope the noble higher-ups can heed my words.

[hamster]

Yim - calling the Ned Kelly of bushrangers a cowboy is too kind. I'm surprised someone hasn't half-length'd him just to put the fear of death into him. Schreck should let D Dunn or one of the other talented riders here have a crack at him in a race and I'm sure his race manners will improve to an acceptable standard.

[corkey boy]

Its a shame that Yim is making headlines for all the wrong reasons as other local jockeys have been going ok.
Eddie Lai is riding the best I can recall and Cheng a double last night. I wonder if the Chinese press have taken notice ??

[masun]

I've read a few articles about Lai and Cheng but on the whole it's not a hot topic.
Btw, the results of recent meetings have been pretty extreme. For example, on March 30 the TT paid only $84,654. Then a few days later on Apr 3, it paid $49,105,036. Quite a difference!

[hobbes]

For example, on March 30 the TT paid only $84,654. Then a few days later on Apr 3, it paid $49,105,036. Quite a difference!
the latter only went off for a $2 ticket and it is surprising anyone got even that much of it.
the $84k one is bizarrely small ???
the local jockeys did indeed put in a strong performance last night. how would any of them fare riding in a western country even if language/culture problems were excluded ??

[masun]

I suspect the local boys wouldn't do very well. It's nothing to do with their racing abilities but rather the gruelling travel schedule they have to endure every day. Even Marcus gave up riding in England after years of having it easy in Hong Kong.

[hobbes]

presumably Marcus would have made enough money riding in HK to make the effort in the UK not worthwhile. if he is not very rich he should be.