TEETAN SET TO MAKE A WELCOME RETURN TO ACTION

By Darren Winningham | Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Karis Teetan has had to be patient, but the good news is that he has now been given the ‘all clear’ by the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s medical team and he will be in action at Happy Valley on Wednesday night, where he will have his first race rides since landing a treble on September 18.

That was the day before the Mauritian-born jockey found out that he was suffering from thyrotoxicosis – a condition in which you have too much thyroid hormone in your body ... and the 32-year-old has been sidelined since then as he had to wait for medication to take effect.

Teetan will ease his way back into it with only a few rides on Wednesday before heading to the Longines Hong Kong International Races on Sunday where he will immediately be gunning for Group 1 glory having been booked to ride the Tony Millard trained Panfield in the Hong Kong Vase and the Douglas Whyte trained Savvy Nine in the Hong Kong Cup.

One of the opponents who Teetan will face in the Hong Kong Cup will be a runner he knows very well ... Romantic Warrior, one of Hong Kong’s most exciting horses.

Teetan partnered the Danny Shum trained star to four wins from five starts earlier this year, the last of those being a victory in the FWD QE11 Cup on April 24, but, when Romantic Warrior resumed after a setback on November 20, Teetan was still unavailable to ride because of his health issues so James McDonald took over the reins ... and the pair duly saluted in style in the Group 2 BOCHK Jockey Club Cup.

As the time McDonald paid tribute to Teetan saying, “First of all, I would just like to send my well wishes to Karis. Obviously, he would (normally) be on this horse and it’s a pleasure to be warming the seat for him for when he gets back – and I’m sure he’ll be back very shortly.”

As things have turned out, the extended delay surrounding Teetan’s return date has seen McDonald retain the ride on Romantic Warrior.

McDonald will be officially crowned as the 2022 LONGINES World Best Jockey at a function in Hong Kong later this week.

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