Zac Purton and John Size were two highly-anticipated official champions amongst Hong Kong's jockeys and trainers in 2024-25 but that wasn't the entire story on our ratings.
The jockeys championship largely reflected our rating - Purton found only one serious rival during the season, with James McDonald even matching him on our ratings at one point, but ultimately was a hollow winner of the championship again and just as convincing on our rating figures.
But the trainers provided some sort of a surprise, with Size spending a lot of the season at or near the top of the list but finally just headed off by the previous season's champion, Francis Lui.
That meant nothing as far as the Australian trainer claiming his record-extending 13th championship in 24 seasons and there has not been a trainer like him in Hong Kong's history.
But our ratings are telling us that Lui, who spent a large part of the season looking to have a performance hangover from his hard-fought championship in 2023-24, is likely to be back as a championship contender next season.
Manfred Man was the bigger shock, producing the best season of his 20-plus years as a trainer, and his back half of the season was exceptional as he finished third-ranked on our ratings. We would be surprised if he can repeat that.
David Eustace certainly got a lot of good publicity for his debut season as a Hong Kong trainer and it was certainly a good effort, though not exceptional. As promising as it was, it was a long way short of Size's win in his debut year or even Frankie Lor's 65 wins to finish second.
(Note, apprentice jockey ratings reflect performances with their allowance "built in". As their claim reduces and they compete on a more equal footing, we expect their rating to deteriorate unless they are top class riders.)
​These ratings are updated regularly and designed to reflect current form but with past figures also putting a brake on hot-streak performers or uplifting a long-term quality player having a quiet run.