Some days David Eustace can hardly believe he is embarking on a training career in Hong Kong. He told Matt Stewart that he is approaching the challenge with a balance of caution and ambition.
In Hong Kong, you have to hit the board. Trainers and jockeys on losing streaks are bad karma.
So, the 28 horses circling each morning under the training tower in the centre of the glorious Sha Tin racetrack are studied intently by David Eustace. They’re not just the hope of the team. For the time being, they are the team.
Occasionally, though, Eustace raises his eyes to take it all in. At first light, the glimmering towers of Hong Kong Island burst into view.
In racing terms, Hong Kong is the dream gig. Beyond that, Hong Kong is simply exotic, a sub-tropical east meets west epicentre half-way to Europe.
“You certainly feel that,” Eustace said. “Every day in the training tower you look across as the horses exercise and you see that incredible backdrop of all those buildings and you think 'wow, that’s pretty cool'.
“It does feel like the big time and you realise what a fantastic opportunity you have that not many get to have. You realise you have to make the most of it.”
In December last year it was revealed that Eustace had secured a coveted training gig in Hong Kong, where prize money is through the roof, many costs are covered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club and the tax rate is low. Instead of a constant daily carousel, they race just twice a week.
Training is mostly drudgery, but this is training paradise.
Trainers who succeed in Hong Kong are set for life.
Eustace had spent almost a decade with Ciaron Maher, including five years in a partnership that netted a staggering 30 Group One winners.
Eustace realised that transitioning to Hong Kong meant greater personal opportunity but a challenging reset.
“Nothing focuses you more than staring at a stable that’s empty,” he said.
Amid the glitz and shimmering backdrop of Hong Kong, Eustace has been laying his foundation. He is biding his time. The new season starts on September 8 and the 33-year-old won’t have runners until at least the end of the month. Winners are important in Hong Kong, not runners.
Most of his horses are hand-ons from other Sha Tin stables. Horses tend to play musical chairs in Hong Kong, shuffling from trainer to trainer. Eustace has cherry-picked a handful of outside horses that he hopes to bring along slowly in the hope they will hit their straps mid to late season.
In a sense Eustace is in a holding pattern; itching to compete but not prepared to waste bullets.
Bren O’Brien
“It’s been a long and steady build-up to the season which is what I wanted. The majority of horses are stable transfers and I think the majority of those are capable of doing something at some stage,” he said.
“Hopefully we can race them relatively early before the horses we’ve brought in hit their straps. Numerically we won’t be strong but I’m determined to take my time. The proof will be in the pudding.”
Eustace says he is still adapting to the rhythms of Sha Tin and the well-equipped Conghua training centre on mainland China, where he has a small squad. With Maher, he had a box full of tools via new technology and multiple training farms.
“Nothing focuses you more than staring at a stable that’s empty."- David Eustace
Sha Tin is flat and circular, an environment Eustace is familiar with. He worked for many years under Peter Moody and Maher at Caulfield and spent nine months with Peter and Paul Snowden before that.
“I have reflected on the years I spent at Caulfield and Randwick. They were invaluable for where I am now,” he said.
The data revolution in racing was probably best used by Maher/Eustace and Eustace packed sports science in his suitcase.
“I can look back at the data – recoveries and so on – and relay it back to Australia,” he said.
“Their heart rates (on recovery) seem to be slower than back in Oz. You find yourself not doing quite as much with them. You don’t want to make too many comparisons too quickly or make knee-jerk conclusions but the variables are interesting,” he said.
“Everyone has to adapt when they come here. We probably had more tools in Australia but we’ve also got Conghua which has uphill grass, water walkers, treadmills. Training here is not quite as routine as people think.”
Eustace said he was enjoying the magic of Hong Kong. He’s made several friends outside the bubble of the racetrack and enjoys hikes and bike rides in the hills. He found a decent golf course in Macau and is keen to assemble a rag-tag team of cricketers.
But the expectation of success weighs heavily - and daily. He is aware of the importance of the scoreboard.
“The pressure to perform is real. But you can take your time and have runners when you think they can win. If I was to have runners on the first day and bag a winner, well and good. It would get the pressure off, but the pressure is really just what you put on yourself,” he said.
Jamie Richards didn’t have runners until November of his first season. “And he was very strong late,” Eustace said.
Eustace mirrors New Zealander Richards as the second young Australasian trainer in recent years to be drawn to the challenge of Hong Kong. Both had remarkable success at a young age.
“Jamie has been terrific. We’d never crossed paths before, probably mainly through COVID. He reached out as soon as I got here. He didn’t hesitate with any questions I had,” Eustace said,
“David Hayes has also been really helpful. He knows so many people over here. David Hall, who has the stable next door, has also been great,” he said.
Ciaron Maher’s bloodstock manager Will Bourne told The Straight recently that there was a time when the stable was working at an unsustainable speed. Eustace agreed the “whirlwind” of the stable’s rapid success had at times been hectic.
“I guess I’ve got more time now to be a bit strategic. When you start something new you put a lot of pressure on yourself but I found I’ve also had more time to think,” he said.
Eustace has sourced overseas horses “with a fine-tooth comb” for Hong Kong owners mostly signed up over a long Cantonese lunch “which was something I’ve really had to adapt to.”
It had been speculated that Eustace would be drip-fed horses from Maher as well as his own brother Harry, who trains a large team at Newmarket.
“We’re really happy with what we’ve bought. In time we may access horses from Harry or Ciaron but it would have been foolish on my part to assume anything,” he said.
“Nothing focuses you more than staring at a stable that’s empty” - David Eustace
Eustace is determined to make it in Hong Kong racing but he’s also a young man on an exotic journey.
“I feel I’m getting a bit more perspective about life in general,” he said. “It’s a fascinating place. There is stunning scenery and landscapes. It’s not just a city.”
The Maher years were dizzying.
“I was grateful to have had the experience. What we achieved was absolutely beyond my imagination; the size of the stable, the number of winners. I don’t think anyone could have predicted it other than Ciaron himself,” he said.
Maher’s graduates tend to absorb his sense of adventure, that anything was possible. Like Maher, his former Sydney foreman Annabel Neasham has rocketed through the ranks.
“This is a sport where walls are rarely broken down but there’s no doubt Ciaron instils in you that the sky's the limit,” Eustace said.
Eustace won’t be rocketing anywhere for the time being. For horse trainers, Hong Kong can be cruel or kind. Eustace is plotting carefully, determined to do Hong Kong his way.
