Prolific Kan sets sights on Moore's long-standing record

Flamboyant Brian Kan Ping-chee is poised to become the most successful trainer in the history of Hong Kong racing.

A treble at Sha Tin on Saturday took his overall career record to 697 winners and he has a special party planned for the watershed 700-winner tally.

But his real target is a total of 722 - one more than the legendary George Moore, who ruled Hong Kong turf virtually undisputed for over a decade during the '70s and early '80s.

'I want to do that this season and I don't see why not. When I get another three winners to take me to 700 I am having a party in the New Territories to celebrate.

'But that will be nothing compared to me getting 722 winners because I want to beat George Moore's record. My horses are running well and I have nearly a full stable.

'It is my ambition,' he said yesterday.

While Kan has been longer in the training game here than Moore, it would still be a remarkable achievement given the vastly different conditions.

There are more meetings now but the competition is more intense and it is easy to forget that Moore was simply out on his own during his heyday.

The new five-day entry system has also been a bonus for the high-profile trainer, who does not like his horses standing in the stable.

He backs them up repeatedly and answers every Jockey Club call for reinforcements when original entries are light.

As Kan aims for a record, English trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam will just be glad to get started following almost a week of inactivity in Hong Kong.

Chapple-Hyam becomes an officially licensed trainer today following a frustrating delay over a work visa which could have been avoided.

The Jockey Club announced last night that any horses transferred to the English Derby-winning trainer by closing time today will be eligible to be entered for Saturday's Sha Tin meeting.

Steve S. W. Lee's acting trainer's licence will expire after tomorrow night's Valley meeting and he will become assistant to Chapple-Hyam.

As expected, the Jockey Club will permit French jockey Freddie Sanchez to ride as a Club jockey until January 31 next year.

Sanchez has had a roller-coaster ride in Hong Kong, coming here as a Club jockey for three months and then landing what seemed the plum job as stable jockey to compatriot Patrick Biancone.

That went out the window when Biancone was suspended for 10 months and the retainer was switched to Lee. That has now ended and Sanchez has, in effect, just over three months to prove that he has a future in Hong Kong.