Opinion | The colourful case of racing’s ‘Benjamin Button’

The first fortnight of the season has been a dark time for the rank and file punters – with only three favourites saluting in the 36 races so far – but at least a rare Andy Leung Ting-wah win injected some colour into proceedings, quite literally, on Wednesday night at the Valley.

Leung, whose outrageous outfits at times make him look like a Chinese version of Little Richard (a resemblance not helped by what appears to be a recent perm), was sartorially subdued by his standards: navy blue shirt, red tie and cherry-red shoes.

In the past, the 65-year-old, sorry 64-year-old, has favoured garish red or blindingly bright yellow blazers, snakeskin shoes and not-so-subtle Native American-inspired necklaces.

He isn’t alone in being a flashy or unique dresser: uber-cool jockey Olivier Doleuze makes the short walk from the Sha Tin jockeys’ room to his on-track apartment look like a Milan catwalk in his tightly tailored, retro-chic outfits, and trainer John Moore has safari suits in three different colours – the traditional khaki, as will as navy blue and army green.

But there is a far deeper reason than fashion for Leung’s flamboyance and seemingly random colour code: feng shui and astrology.

Leung, with a Gemini star sign and born in a year of the rat, hires a feng shui expert to advise him on what colours he should wear each race day to maximise energy and good fortune.