An hour before dawn's first rays reveal the slopes of Ma On Shan, Sha Tin racecourse is waking up. Mafoos, who muck out the stables and tend the horses, have quietly begun pedalling into the vast complex to start work.
After arriving in more luxurious conveyances, the trainers - such as Patrick Biancone, David Hayes, Tony Cruz and Brian Kan Ping-chee, who enjoy celebrity status in the hearts and minds of faithful punters - are considering how hard and far to work their gallopers.
And in a brand new bed in a modest flat overlooking the track, Sheri Kong Pik-wing, Hong Kong's first female jockey, is gently elbowing her slumbering husband of four weeks, top French rider Eric Legrix, 31. It is 4.15am. In 45 minutes they will be urging million-dollar thoroughbreds through their paces.
'I have to wake him up, I shake him,' says the 21-year-old, grinning. 'I can be ready very fast,' offers Legrix, a popular figure with trainers and fellow jockeys.
Later, seasoned regulars with stopwatches and instant coffee will gather in conspiratorial huddles to compare notes on the times being clocked. A grey flashes past, its rider a picture of balance. 'It worked fast today. It's got to have a great chance of winning first up,' enthuses one of the track-side boosters. Kong and Legrix, out of earshot, continue their way around the track.
Theirs is an unconventional racing partnership that began in the stables of their boss, Biancone, blossomed in secret - away from the glare of attention by both the Jockey Club and the racing public, even as the two competed against each other - and became official with their wedding in Chantilly, France, last month.
