Racing: Oriental surprise

Leading New Zealand trainer Paul O'Sullivan has had a tough six months' introduction to the Hong Kong racing industry, but he is enjoying every moment.

O'Sullivan is back in New Zealand to attend the Karaka yearling sales and is thriving on the challenge of competing against some of the leading thoroughbred trainers in the world in the gambling-mad city of Hong Kong.

"It was tough on my staff, owners, horses and myself when I first got there because we didn't know anything about each other," said O'Sullivan.

"It's really taken me six months to get to learn about all the routines my horses have and how to communicate with my owners and staff.

"I have 55 horses in training at the complex in Hong Kong and it's an amazing set-up with state-of-the-art facilities for getting your racehorses fit. I'm happy with my result to date as I've won eight races and my target for the season would be to get to 20 wins.

"I'm up at 4am every morning and I finish at 4pm - and I work seven days a week. On top of those hours you have the Wednesday night racing at Happy Valley as well as the Saturday or Sunday night racing at Sha Tin.

"I only leave the training complex at Sha Tin twice a week and that is to race my horses at Happy Valley on a Wednesday night or to attend church on a Sunday.

"I'm riding trackwork every morning and it has taken my body a while to adjust to the new workload because I didn't ride the same amount of trackwork when I was training back in New Zealand."

O'Sullivan lives on the massive training complex situated around Sha Tin racetrack.

"The whole structure of Hong Kong racing is amazing and it's the most professionally run racing organisation I have ever seen in the world.

"It's a very tough and competitive environment to train from when you're a new arrival on the complex and it has taken me six months to learn how to manage the racing options for my horses.

"I am out here in New Zealand with a few orders from clients up in Hong Kong for yearlings so we're going to see if we can compete with the strong buying bench that is here."

O'Sullivan will be represented at tonight's meeting at Sha Tin by Easy Game in race two.

Former New Zealand jockey Shane Dye will ride the galloper for O'Sullivan.