Hong Kong racing has traditionally been a sport dominated by male jockeys, but female riders have also left their mark throughout the history of professional racing in the city. According to past information from The Hong Kong Jockey Club, local female riders including Kong Pik-wai, Chung Lai-fong, Kan Wai-yu and Carol Yu Wing-sze all competed in Hong Kong. Moving into the 2010s, the female jockey who left the strongest impression on a new generation of racing fans was undoubtedly Kei Chiong.
Kei Chiong began riding in Hong Kong during the 2015/16 season and recorded her first local victory aboard Smart Salute. On 10 April 2016, she rode four winners at Sha Tin, setting a new Hong Kong record for the most wins by a female jockey at a single meeting. By 29 June 2016, she had already accumulated 34 Hong Kong wins and was, at the time, the most successful female jockey in the city’s history. After she retired from race-riding in 2018, Hong Kong went through a period without a locally trained female apprentice competing in races. Chiong eventually retired with 58 Hong Kong wins.
That situation finally changed with the arrival of Britney Wong.
Wong travelled to Adelaide, Australia, in 2022 for overseas training, where she was attached to the stable of Jon O’Connor. She rode 50 winners in Australia before also spending a short period riding in New Zealand. After returning to Hong Kong, she was indentured to trainer David Hall, becoming the first locally trained female apprentice licensed to ride in Hong Kong since Kei Chiong. In September 2024, she partnered the Douglas Whyte-trained Cheval Valiant to record her first Hong Kong victory. Wong finished her first Hong Kong season with 18 wins, eight of which came on the dirt track.
During the 2025/26 season, Wong continued to build her experience. She finished the campaign with 13 wins, 17 seconds, 11 thirds and eight fourths from 210 rides, recording a winning strike rate of 6.19% and earning more than HK$18.2 million in prize money. Together with the 18 victories from her first season, her Hong Kong total rose to 31 wins, meaning she now receives a seven-pound claim. The HKJC’s local jockey allowance records list Wong with 31 Hong Kong wins and a seven-pound allowance.
Wong’s season, however, was not entirely straightforward. She suffered a right leg injury following a barrier incident at Sha Tin on 23 November 2025 and was forced to spend a period on the sidelines. After recovering, she quickly began rebuilding momentum. At the Sha Tin dirt meeting on 1 April, she partnered Igor Stravinsky to victory on her first ride for Tony Cruz. The win was particularly significant as it marked Cruz’s 1,600th Hong Kong victory as a trainer. Cruz praised Wong after the race for her strength and power in the saddle, saying she was forceful in a finish and capable of riding a horse strongly.
Coincidentally, another local female jockey, Nichola Yuen, also began her Hong Kong riding career that same evening and won on her very first race day. It made the meeting a particularly significant one in the history of female jockeys in Hong Kong. According to the Club, it was the first time since the turn of the century that two homegrown female apprentices had ridden winners on the same Hong Kong race card.
Yuen had joined The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Racing Trainee programme in 2016 as an Apprentice Jockey Trainee and rode trackwork in Hong Kong for trainers Jimmy Ting, Ricky Yiu, Manfred Man and Michael Chang. She began her overseas training in South Australia in 2021, where she rode more than 60 winners. She later moved to New Zealand and added another 10 victories before continuing her training in South Africa, where she also rode winners. After returning to Hong Kong, she was indentured to trainer Ricky Yiu and began her Hong Kong riding contract on 1 April 2026.
Yuen’s start in Hong Kong was even more eye-catching than many had expected. On 1 April, at her first Hong Kong meeting, her first mount Double Bingo finished fourth before she immediately opened her local winning account with her second ride, guiding the Dennis Yip-trained PI Legend to victory over 1200 metres.
More impressively, it quickly became clear that her successful debut was not simply beginner’s luck. Just over ten days later, at Sha Tin on 12 April, Yuen partnered Ricky Yiu-trained runners Flashing Fighter and Fortune Link to complete her first Hong Kong double. From six rides that day, she recorded two wins, a second and a third and shared Jockey Challenge honours with Brenton Avdulla. According to the Club’s report, her rapid progress immediately established her as one of the most eye-catching newcomers to the Hong Kong riding ranks.
Having only joined the Hong Kong riding ranks in early April, Yuen ended the 2025/26 season with 14 wins, seven seconds, 13 thirds and 14 fourths from just 108 rides, giving her a winning strike rate of 12.96% and prize-money earnings of more than HK$16.18 million. Significantly, she even edged Wong 14-13 in terms of wins during the season. With fewer than 20 Hong Kong victories to her name, Yuen continues to benefit from a ten-pound claim. HKJC records list her with 14 Hong Kong wins and a ten-pound allowance.
Of course, the circumstances surrounding the two riders cannot be compared purely through their number of winners. Wong returned to Hong Kong earlier and had to go through the learning process of her first season, a gradually reducing weight allowance and the setback of an injury during the latest campaign. Yuen, meanwhile, returned with several years of riding experience in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, while also benefiting from a ten-pound claim, allowing her to quickly gain support from a number of stables. Their paths have been different, but what they have in common is that they are increasingly gaining attention not simply because they are female jockeys, but because their results are earning them riding opportunities.
In fact, that may be the most significant aspect of the 2025/26 season for female jockeys in Hong Kong. From Kong Pik-wai, Chung Lai-fong, Kan Wai-yu and Carol Yu Wing-sze, through to Kei Chiong and now Britney Wong and Nichola Yuen, there has always been a line of female representation in Hong Kong racing, even if their numbers have traditionally been small. Now, having two locally trained female riders competing during the same season, and even both riding winners at the same meeting, represents a situation rarely seen in recent decades.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has also granted apprentice jockey licences to both Wong and Yuen for the 2026/27 racing season. Wong will remain allocated to David Hall, while Yuen will continue with Ricky Yiu. Wong heads into the new season with 31 Hong Kong wins and a seven-pound claim, while Yuen begins her first full Hong Kong campaign with 14 victories and a ten-pound allowance.
From a time when female jockeys appeared only occasionally in the Hong Kong weighing room to the present day, when two locally trained female riders are regularly securing mounts, the landscape of Hong Kong racing is gradually changing. For Wong, the next challenge is to prove that she can remain competitive as her weight allowance continues to decrease. For Yuen, the task will be to carry the strong momentum from her shortened debut campaign into a full season. Their real tests are only beginning, but the 2025/26 season has already demonstrated one thing clearly — the story of Hong Kong’s female jockeys is entering a new chapter.