Sean Woods will be the only trainer in Hong Kong with a retained rider next season, the Jockey Club licensing committee having acceded to his request to bring his 40-year-old brother, Wendyll, from England to become stable jockey. And South African Glyn Schofield's dream also came true yesterday when he was given a full-year licence as a Club jockey for next season. Schofield joins fellow countrymen Douglas Whyte, Felix Coetzee and Weichong Marwing as four of the elite sextet to be given one of the ultimate privileges a jockey can receive. The only other jockeys with one-year licences will be Shane Dye and Gerald Mosse. Coetzee comes off his retainer arrangement with the Tony Cruz stable, but the high quality of his performance on and off the track - he is a clear third on the jockeys' premiership - saw him comfortably make the prestigeous one-year category. First-term licences (to December 14) have been given to incumbents Dwayne Dunn, Anton Marcus and Craig Williams, as well as Australian Danny Beasley, who made his Hong Kong debut at Happy Valley last Wednesday. The surprise addition among the new Club jockeys is Anthony Delpech, 32, the runaway leader on the South African jockeys' premiership with 229 winners. Delpech has ridden over 1,500 winners, including 84 stakes winners and 18 at Group One level. Jockeys who were overlooked for a licence for the first three months of the new season, at this stage, included Frenchman Eric Saint-Martin, multiple Melbourne premiership winner Brett Prebble and New Zealand's champion apprentice Michael Walker. Jockey Club director of racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the licensing committee had reserved a decision on naming two more club jockeys for the first three months of the 2003-04 season. 'This will give us more time to fully evaluate the performance of certain jockeys and, in the case of Eric Legrix, to better assess his recovery from knee surgery,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'Also with Eric, it must be said the Club does have some concerns about the level of support he's been receiving over the last half of the season.' On the selection of Delpech, Engelbrecht-Bresges suggested that the splendid record of previous South African riders in Hong Kong was undoubtedly a factor in the decision. AThe South African riders, in general, have acquitted themselves very well here. And in general, when you look at their application and personal discipline, it's quite remarkable,' he said. The Club also delivered a stinging message to Saint-Martin, who abandoned his latest three-month contract to flee Hong Kong during the height of the Sars scare. 'While you have to respect this was a personal decision, we also have to be fair to the other jockeys who chose to stay in Hong Kong under the same circumstances and support the Club,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'That's not to say he won't be licensed again in the future, but we might want to look at other options, too.' For 36-year-old Schofield, who has enjoyed a superb season as Club jockey on renewed three-month contracts and lies fourth on the premiership, the announcement was a dream come true. 'This is exactly what I've been hoping for and I must thank the licensing committee and the director of racing for their confidence in me,' said Schofield, whose wife Tiffany flew in from Durban on Friday to be with him for the weekend. 'For the past 1.5 to two years, I have been riding overseas without my wife and children. Now I can bring them over here with me and I can't tell you what a difference that will make. It would be so good to be back together as a family again.' Robbie Fradd, the regular partner of Horse of the Year-elect Electronic Unicorn, has been given what the Club terms a 'half-year licence', but which actually takes in all but the final two months of the season. The other surprise selection was of German Torsten Mundry, 32, a slightly heavier rider who scales at 119 pounds. Torsten's licence period has been defined as starting on October 20 and extending through to April 25. Torsten, who gained valuable Asian racing experience with a Macau stint that provided 35 winners from 238 rides, has won more than 900 races including all the German classics - the Derby (twice), St Leger (twice), 2000 and 1000 Guineas - and the Group One Preis von Europa. Wendyll Woods is no stranger to Hong Kong, having formerly ridden here as stable jockey for Lawrie Fownes. Although his performance statistics for his last season (2001-02) are short of his best, the jockey has the overall impressive figures of 300 Hong Kong winners to his credit, with his mounts having earned over $155 million. 'I'm very pleased for Wendyll and having our own rider will be very good for our team. That's the way I like to do things,' Woods summed up.
