The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced this morning (Friday, 10 March) that Mark Newnham will be the newest addition to its training ranks for the 2023/24 racing season.
“Firstly, a big thank you to The Hong Kong Jockey Club and the Licensing Committee for this opportunity. It’s something that I have aspired to, even before I took out a trainers’ licence on my own – I have always had a huge interest in Hong Kong racing and to me it is the pinnacle of racing worldwide,” Newnham said.
Newnham has been a regular figure in the Sydney championship’s top 10 since taking out his licence in 2016. His stable has produced standout performers Shadow Hero, Maid Of Heaven, Nakeeta Jane, Splintex and Quackerjack among nearly 400 wins throughout his career as a trainer, including over 40 at black type level.
The Licensing Committee’s decision to license Newnham was announced by Mr Andrew Harding, The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Executive Director, Racing at Sha Tin Racecourse in front of media this morning.
“The Hong Kong Jockey Club has proven to be a world leader in racing for a long time, so as a trainer, to me it’s the top of the tree and is what I have aspired to achieve – for me, personally, it is an achievement getting here but there’s still a lot of hard work to do yet.
“The Club here, obviously has great talent, great facilities and ultra-competitive racing every Wednesday and every Sunday – to be given the opportunity to come here, live and work in a vibrant city like Hong Kong, it’s something that I treasure and very much will enjoy,” Newnham said.
Schooled by Hall of Fame trainers Bart Cummings and Gai Waterhouse, Newnham, 55, worked with several equine giants including Campaign King, Beau Zam, Tristanagh, Sky Chase and 1990 Melbourne Cup winner Kingston Rule alongside Cummings.
While with Waterhouse, Newnham rode the exceptional Pierro in trackwork throughout his successful 2013 Golden Slipper campaign and career before doing the same for 2013 Melbourne Cup winner Fiorente.
“I’ve had a few different roles in racing – I was a jockey for 20 years but I spent time working with the great Bart Cummings and I had the responsibility of travelling with a lot of his horses and his best horses.
“From there I had a successful apprenticeship and then moved to be one of Gai Waterhouse’s stable jockeys and from there to being her assistant trainer for five years. The five years I had with Gai were very successful – we won three Golden Slippers and a Melbourne Cup, so it wasn’t until 2016 that I decided to branch out on my own, and we’re approaching 400 winners in that seven seasons and 40 stakes wins, so it’s been very successful and a lot of that success is due to my Hong Kong ownership base,” Newnham said.