One-time badminton queen revels in her latest mission of ensuring apprentice jockeys realise their dreams
Former Hong Kong badminton queen Amy Chan Lim-chee knew her vast experience as a one-time world-class athlete would be utilised one day. It's just that she didn't really know she would pass on her knowledge to athletes in a different sport.
As one of the SAR's best-known and most successful athletes who was awarded the British Empire Medal by former governor David Wilson for her massive contribution to badminton, Ms Chan would have been the perfect badminton coach. It comes as a surprise that she is now lending her experience in helping to develop a new breed of athlete - the jockey.
As racing talent development manager at the Apprentice Jockeys' School, Ms Chan has assumed the role of headmistress, confidant, motivator and adviser as she takes a batch of apprentice jockeys under her wing to help them acquire the proper training needed in the sport of kings.
Racing in Hong Kong is a billion-dollar industry with successful jockeys earning a comfortable living in the company of world-class trainers, ambitious owners and up to 80,000 racing fans in magnificent facilities at Sha Tin and Happy Valley. Jockeys are easily the highest paid of all athletes here as they vie for prize money, which is among the highest in the world.
Successful jockeys receive adulation from trainers, praise from owners and admiration from fans who seek their fortune in one of the most lucrative industries in Hong Kong, making the Hong Kong Jockey Club the single biggest taxpayer in Hong Kong, contributing HK$12 billion tax revenue in 2005-06.
Ms Chan loves being part of it all, and the former Commonwealth Games gold medallist is playing a pivotal role in helping our best local apprentice jockeys gain the confidence they need to pilot the 1,000 pounds of horse flesh beneath them, week in and week out.
