The questions are answered by the four-time Hong Kong champion trainer, one of only four trainers to reach the 1,000-winner milestone in the region
Caspar Fownes, 56, has built on his father’s legacy to establish one of the leading stables in Hong Kong.
A British passport holder, he was born in India, the son of the late Lawrie Fownes, one of that country’s most successful trainers who continued to produce the winners when he moved to Hong Kong in 1981.
Fownes snr trained for 22 seasons before retiring to hand the reins to son Caspar in 2003-04. Caspar hit the ground running with 44 winners in his first campaign and he has since gone on to claim four trainers’ championships.
Fownes has well over 1,000 career winners in Hong Kong, where he became known as the ‘King of the Valley’ owing to his prolific racord at the city-centre racetrack Happy Valley.
Notable big-race triumphs include winning the Hong Kong Derby twice with Super Satin (2010) and Sky Darci (2021), while at the Hong Kong International Races, he has won the HK Mile with The Duke (2006) and the HK Sprint with both Lucky Nine (2011) and Sky Field (2021). He also has five G1 wins in Singapore to his name.
Which racing figure past or present do you most admire?
From the present, probably Frankie Dettori for everything he has achieved and continues to achieve, given his age.
My Dad must be the other figure. He was a very good horseman and a very good teacher. He took the time. I hope I will be as good a teacher as my father was with me. He loved his horses. He was a very hands-on trainer, always groomed the horses and even did all our horses’ teeth.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
My favourite venue for racing is definitely Happy Valley. It’s a great track, a great viewing track. Everyone is on top of the action and everyone is having fun. You are right there up against the rail watching the races with the horses coming past you.
The race is probably the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. I watch it all the time. It draws such a great calibre of horse every year and some good friends have won it, like Frankie, Ryan Moore and Christophe Soumillon.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
I would go with Frankel. He was an incredible horse who was unbeaten and had that willingness to win. It’s a shame we never saw him compete somewhere else but for me he was the best horse I’ve seen race.
Right now Golden Sixty is a superstar winning 25 from 29. It’s a tough thing to do, even in your own backyard. He’s taken on some of the best who have come here to try and beat him and they can’t. He’s in my top three.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
When I had six winners at Happy Valley on June 10, 2010. That was a big deal. No one had won six here and it is something I am so proud of. You never think you can win that many but it just worked out really good that day.
Racing is so competitive in Hong Kong, particularly when you are in the handicap system. It’s not like other countries when you can take horses to different tracks for a soft kill. In Hong Kong, once you are in a rating band you are stuck there. It’s tough.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
We are getting there with the World Pool, mingling together. A lot of the racing jurisdictions are working to try to get a product that people around the world can bet on. Going forward I hope it will continue and I see Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges [HKJC CEO] is trying to get the top 100 races into the pool, which would be outstanding.
Caspar Fownes was speaking to Jon Lees
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