'On Wednesdays [race days] I try to wake up at 7am, even if I'm not riding. Normally my kids go to school around that time, so I play the good dad and make breakfast for them. At 9.30am or 10am I'll check my weight because I always have to look after that. Sometimes I even have to lose weight for the races that night. If that happens I'll work out on the spinning bike or maybe take a hot bath. I try to finish everything by 1pm, because from 1pm to 5pm I take a nap. I've had a bit of trouble sleeping in Hong Kong. I wish I could go to bed early every night and wake up as fresh as a flower, but if I go to bed at 9pm I'll wake up at midnight, so I have to sleep in two shifts.
I almost never eat on race days. If I'm underweight I may have a really light breakfast, but from 10am onwards, I won't touch any food until the last race is over. So, when I wake up from my nap I just have a shower and go straight to the track.
Even if luck plays a major part in the race, you don't want to put all your energy into a horse that has no potential, so you really have to look at the evolution of the horses. The [Hong Kong] Jockey Club makes everything accessible to us, and the day before I'll have studied all the horses I'll have to ride, especially if I've never ridden them before - their last few runs, the best races they've had, who used to ride them and so on. Every time I get on a horse I try to have some kind of communication with it. It's difficult to explain but it's a question of feeling - how the horse reacts to you, how he hits the line, how he finishes - and from that you come to know the animal's character. Sometimes, I don't know why, I like a horse right away. I can feel there's something special about it.
I started to ride Good Ba Ba [above, with Doleuze] last season. He wasn't really impressive then, but when I came back this season, I knew he'd be one of my best horses. It's like he was a different animal. After we won [the International Group One 2007 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile] it was like all of Hong Kong was behind me; as a jockey it's one of the best memories of my life. I hope we can win [the Champions Mile, next Sunday].
I always believe in my horse. It's not a question of tactics, not at all. My job is just to let him run, to get everything out of him and let him show what he can do. But even if you get the best horse it's never easy; anything can happen. Anything could make you win or lose a race - your positioning, the way you leave the gate. You have to watch all these things to really understand racing and to win. It takes a lot of time.
In the last four years I was very competitive and got a lot of wins, but this year I haven't done as well. When you're really flying, people are always with you, but when you are going through a bad spell, there are a lot of people who will turn their backs. It's at times like these you have to be a bit mature.