Exiled Chin comes in from the cold

Hong Kong jockey Stanley Chin Kin-ming swept away his criminal past with the flourish of his whip hand yesterday, preferring to look to the future.

Chin, who makes an improbable comeback to Hong Kong racing in Sunday's $14 million Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup, refused to be drawn on his life behind bars in Hong Kong.

'You can't live in the past, you learn from it and move on,' Chin said, with a sweeping gesture after trackwork at Sha Tin yesterday.

Chin is arguably the best Chinese jockey in the world. But he is also the man described as 'the root of the evil' by the judge who sentenced him in 1999 to 31/2 years in prison for his part in a race-fixing scandal following an ICAC investigation.

Chin, then the champion apprentice, had accepted $1 million from a mainland businessman and used it to bribe fellow apprentice jockeys not to finish in the top three in two Sha Tin races in 1996. Chin's girlfriend was arrested along with six other young Chinese riders.

The jockey, who turns 30 on July 20, has been in exile since his release. But he has made a breathtaking success of his comeback, based out of Ireland, over the past 12 months.

On Sunday, his dream of a return to Hong Kong will be fulfilled, in part, when he rides Mark Johnston-trained Scott's View, one of four international visitors. 'I came back as a spectator for the international meeting in December and had a great time - it was wonderful to see many of my old friends again,' Chin said. 'I'm really looking forward to Sunday, and at this stage I have rides in seven other races apart from the Queen Elizabeth Cup. It's just fantastic the way the trainers and owners have supported me.'