Who is Pierre Ng?
Pierre Ng is a second-generation trainer and a rapidly-rising star of the Hong Kong racing scene. His first season as a trainer was widely anticipated and he did not disappoint those who had watched his career in the industry to that point. His debut campaign brought a very healthy 41 wins and a mid-table finish in the premiership.
His second term saw him stamp his presence as a trainer of high ambition and confirmed the widely-held view that he is a horseman of apparent talent. He shot to the top of the premiership and remained there for much of the term, locking horns with veteran Francis Lui in a head-to-head tussle for a maiden champion trainer title.
What are Pierre Ng’s origins?
He is the son of retired Hong Kong trainer Peter Ng who trained one of the star horses of the early 1990s, Quicken Away. Ng worked for his father up to his retirement in 2013, starting out as a work rider in 2007. He had already gained experience in Australia (where he gained a degree in Safety Science and Japanese Studies), working for David Payne, David Hayes, Chris Waller and Mick Price, and his international outlook was also shaped by time spent in the United States, Japan, Ireland and New Zealand.
After helping his father to a best-ever seasonal tally in his final campaign, Ng moved to the Paul O’Sullivan stable as assistant trainer when champion sprinter Aerovelocity was emerging. O’Sullivan enjoyed a purple patch of solid returns and Group 1 successes during that period. Ng then moved to champion trainer John Size, and, despite the pair not hitting it off, Size too had an excellent season.
Ng was then taken on as Francis Lui’s assistant trainer at the time of Golden Sixty’s rise to superstar status, which coincided with the stable’s ascent to becoming a ‘top three’ force in the standings.
What is Pierre Ng’s training style?
Ng was raised in and around Hong Kong racing so he has an innate understanding of how the system works. He has observed and learned from stalwarts of the Sha Tin trainers’ stand and knows the programme inside out.
He utilises this knowledge to place his horses and get the most out of them. Given that he is so early in his career, he has shown himself to be adept at finding opportunities for his horses and having them primed for action.
He has no problem readying a horse to win first-up, he has proven he can progress a horse through the classes, he can also travel them overseas, and is more than capable of keeping the fire burning in old Class 5 hacks.
What is the best horse Pierre Ng has trained?
At this early stage of his career Pierre Ng has not had much in the way of horses rated above 100, but one of those few is the talented Galaxy Patch. Ng prepared the gelding to win four of his first five starts; at start eight he ran second in the G1 Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup over 1400m and at start nine he was backed up to finish a remarkable second in the Hong Kong Derby at 2000m.
After placing fifth in the G1 Champions Mile, Galaxy Patch then went on to cap his season with a deserved Group 3 victory in the Lion Rock Trophy.
After finishing off his season in style, Galaxy Patch then opened the following season’s account with a win in the G2 Sha Tin Trophy over a mile, and he looks the likely candidate to deliver Ng his first taste of Group 1 glory.
What is Pierre Ng’s greatest achievement
Given his profile as a trainer barely in his 40s and already being touted as the next big thing, you’ve got to hope he’ll have a whole list of big achievements a decade from now.
As things stand, it’s an impressive feat to roll off a solid debut season into pushing for the trainers’ premiership, ahead of his old boss, the 12-time champion John Size, and powerful stables like Tony Cruz, Caspar Fownes and Danny Shum. Should he surpass Frankie Lor, another local trainer who was champion in only his third season, and be crowned champion in just his second season, Ng would be well on his way to establishing himself as a major force.
Did you know?
Piere Ng’s wife Silver Wong is a former Hong Kong Jockey Club apprentice who did her overseas race-riding placement in New Zealand. She returned to Hong Kong and became a work rider before proving her abilities as a hard-working and knowledgeable horsewoman in the role of trainer’s assistant in the Danny Shum stable.
