bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

STRESSED-OUT Jockey Club race caller David Raphael has returned to Australia for a two-week rest paving the way for Richard Hoiles to call the $6.5 million Hong Kong Derby on March 1.

 Raphael, who took over from Terry Spargo last April, jetted out last night on medical advice. He had been resting locally for several days.

 Hoiles, the excellent main presenter for Jockey Club television programmes, stepped in at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

 Raphael, whose race-calling background centres on Victoria, has come in for some criticism over mistakes in a number of races but is a generally popular member of the Jockey Club's television team.

 Hoiles, who signed up at the start of the season with a background in England with the SIS operation, has been an unqualified success.

 It is understood that his contract stipulates one or two commentating duties per month.

 In England, he presented morning shows for the Racing Channel, and did commentating duties on a number of racecourses on a regular basis.

 He was in the commentary box yesterday - as had been planned originally - but will now step into it on a regular basis over the next two weeks or so.

 He said: 'I enjoy commentating and it was a significant part of my agreement that I could call some race meetings here. You like to keep in practice.

 'This has come up very unexpectedly but I will obviously enjoy calling the Derby. It looks like being a great race.'  Jockey Club TV boss Michael Henriksen is shuffling rosters and looking at a fairly hectic two weeks.

 'These things happen. I don't think it is going to affect us much. Richard is the anchorman but Gavan Keep deputises and that will be the case.

 'It will not affect our Derby coverage - we have plans for the big day,'said Henriksen.

 Not on television duty for the Derby will be Australian jockey Glen Boss.

 He teamed up with Keep to present yesterday's Trackside show from Sha Tin in an innovative move.

 He will be a bit closer to the action on the big day when he rides Danzighill, who is not without a hope on his Classic Trial effort.

FORMER Hong Kong clerk of the course and tracks guru John Jeffs quit the Australian Jockey Club last week.

 He had been tracks manager at Randwick racecourse in Sydney for several years and stressed that the parting of the ways had been amicable.

 Jeffs, who played a major part in the introduction of the sandmesh concept to Hong Kong racing, had been under fire for some time - as had the AJC generally - over the troubled state of the Randwick track.

 He will not leave until after the Autumn Carnival in Sydney and may well decide that he has had enough of tracks curating.

 'I may well go into a different line of work. I have been doing it for a long time,' said Jeffs.

 His timing was good. Old friend Daryll Plowright, the former cash bet superintendent at the Jockey Club, winged his way to Sydney late last week after 16 years in Hong Kong.

 Although from Melbourne, Plowright has decided to live in Sydney and was due to check in immediately at the Jeffs' household.

 As Plowright has no immediate plans of dashing into a new job, the pair should have time to ruminate over old times in Hong Kong.

NEW Club jockey Danny Nikolic did not have the happiest introduction to Hong Kong racing.

 He officially takes up his duties on Derby Day and will be here until the end of the season. Nikolic, who rode Sunny Lane into third place behind Luso in the International Vase in December, did the rounds at trackwork late last week.

 He also partnered Fairy King Prawn in a barrier trial. It was a brief association as the horse went about 15 metres, swung round and dumped Nikolic, who did a good job of staying out of trouble.

 Fortunately for Danny boy, they're not all like that.



Race caller Raphael to miss Derby Day duties