The Michael Chang team has won the Safest and Best Housekeeping Stable Award for the 2023/24 season. Claus Weidner, The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Director of Racing Operations; K L Cheng, Head of Dual Site Stables Operations; Stephen Higgins, Head of Raceday Operations, Tracks and Racing Facilities and Chairman of the Safety Committee (Racing Operations) and Samson Lau, Senior Manager, Training and Safety, Racing Talent Training Centre, present the trophy and stable prize to trainer Michael Chang and his stable staff during a ceremony held in the Parade Ring at Sha Tin Racecourse today (Saturday, 6 July).

The Safest and Best Housekeeping Stable Award was introduced as part of the Safety in Action Campaign launched by The Hong Kong Jockey Club in the 2002/03 season. The aim is to raise staff awareness of occupational safety and promote the importance of having a safe and healthy working environment in the stables.

The Safety Committee judging panel, comprised of representatives from various departments within The Hong Kong Jockey Club, conducted stable inspections to assess the standards of hygiene and cleanliness in the workplace. The results of these inspections were then combined with accident ratios to derive overall scores.

Winners of the award since its inception are: Eddie Lo (2003), Derek Cruz (2004), Francis Lui (2005), Tony Cruz (2006), John Size (2007), Dennis Yip (2008), Paul O’Sullivan (2009), David Ferraris (2010), Manfred Man (2011), Michael Chang (2012), Dennis Yip (2013), Peter Ho (2014), Tony Cruz (2015), Derek Cruz (2016), Manfred Man (2017), Peter Ho (2018 and 2019), Ricky Yiu (2020), Frankie Lor (2021), Caspar Fownes (2022) and Me Tsui (2023).