He is sitting in a plastic patio chair at the Beas River Country Club, in cold-weather riding gear, a black helmet by his side and an open Mac Powerbook playing a home video of his four-year old daughter and her pony.
Everyone goes to watch blonde Ellie brush her pony's hair with a bubblegum-pink comb. They ask her father, Clayton Fredericks, about Hong Kong in six months time, when the cross-country events of the Olympics will be staged at Beas River. They ask after his family and converse as if they've known him for 20 years. They nearly have.
Most equestrian Olympians will arrive for the first time in Hong Kong this summer; Fredericks has been a regular visitor since 1989, when he first arrived from Australia on an equestrian exchange programme. Hong Kong rider Nicole Pearson remembers his first visit.
'We were all 17 and we'd all come up from school to Beas River to ride. There's this really cute guy and we want to know who it is,' Pearson said.
From cute, Fredericks matured to handsome (there was a 40th birthday bash last year in his native Perth). From Pony Club riding instructor, he grew into the fourth-highest ranked eventer in the world.
But, as he did this week, Fredericks still gives lessons at Beas River, including to Pearson, who said that despite her bias, she anticipated many people would be cheering for Fredericks and his wife, Lucinda (another Australian eventer) should they both come to Hong Kong this summer.
'The fact is, people here have watched him grow - he is a part of us in a way,' Pearson said. 'We watch him with pride. He's part of the family.'