Former Hong Kong racehorse trainer Bruce Hutchison died suddenly in Macau yesterday morning of a suspected heart attack. He was 63.
Hutchison trained in Hong Kong for 23 seasons until June 2001. He enjoyed a two-year break from the rigours of the game but took out a licence with the Macau Jockey Club this season and had prepared two winners there.
A family spokesman confirmed that Hutchison had attended trackwork to supervise the training of his team of horses at the Taipa racecourse on Friday morning, but 'had a turn' later in the morning and was taken to hospital.
Hutchison's wife, Lana, notified their daughter Alix and son-in-law Caspar Fownes, who rushed to Macau to see the popular horseman on Friday afternoon. It is believed Hutchison died around 3am yesterday.
Before moving to Hong Kong in 1978, Hutchison trained at Caulfield racecourse in Melbourne.
Hutchison trained over 300 winners in Hong Kong, with his best season being 25 winners in 1984-85. However, his biggest win came in the previous season when Silver Surf won the Classic Trial, a race now known as the Mercedes-Benz Classic Mile and bearing Group One status.