Anthony Stephen da Cruz (born 24 December 1956 in Hong Kong) is a prominent

horse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some of the responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them submissive behaviors and/or coaching them for e ...

and former Champion Thoroughbred horse racing jockey.

Early life

Son of Johnny M. da Cruz, himself a well-known jockey, Tony Cruz is of Portuguese descent. He became an apprentice jockey at the age of 14.26 December 2007, Wen Wei Po

Riding career

Referred to as a racing legend by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Cruz began his professional riding in 1973 and earned his first win on 11 December 1974 at

Happy Valley Racecourse The Happy Valley Racecourse is one of the two racecourses for horse racing and is a tourist attraction in Hong Kong. It is located in Happy Valley on Hong Kong Island, surrounded by Wong Nai Chung Road and Morrison Hill Road. The capacity ...

. After becoming one of Hong Kong's top jockeys, in the late 1980s he rode in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and France where he enjoyed considerable success, capturing a number of prestigious

Group One Group One, Group 1, Grade I or G1 is the term used for the highest level of Thoroughbred and Standardbred stakes races in many countries. In Europe, the level of races for Thoroughbred racing is determined using the Pattern races, Pattern race sys ...

races. Cruz has been Hong Kong's champion jockey six times and has won more races there than any other jockey. When he retired from riding he embarked on a career as a trainer that has led to more success. He won the Hong Kong Derby four times aboard Co-Tack (1983), Tea For Two II (1987), Clear City (1988),

Makarpura Star Makarpura is a major area in Vadodara city of the Gujarat state in India. It is an important industrial area of Vadodara city having Gujarat Industrial and Development corporation (G.I.D.C),which comprises many important and large Multinational c ...

(1995). He has also ridden to victory in the

Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late May or early June at Sha Tin Racecourse. A Group One race that offers a purse of HK$12,000,000, it is run on turf over a distance of 2400 meters (prior ...

on two occasions. Overall, he won 946 wins in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

as a jockey.

Training career

Cruz became a trainer in 1996–97 season. He has since won the trainer championship twice in 1999-2000 and 2004–05. In 2010/11 in which he won 72 races, including two HKG1s and the G1 CXHK Mile with Beauty Flash, for a career total of 801.

Performance

Notable horses

Notably he trained two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...

(2004, 2005) and his third straight Hong Kong Horse of the Year, 2006 winner,

Bullish Luck Bullish Luck ({{zh, c=牛精福星) (foaled 1999) is a Hong Kong based Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred in Kentucky, he is the son of the 1990 Breeders' Cup Mile winner Royal Academy and out of the Alysheba mare Wild Vintage. He was sold by his b ...

. As a trainer he won it in 2004 with Lucky Owners, and in 2008 with Helene Mascot.

References

2004 article on Tony Cruz and Bullish Luck by About, Inc., a part of The New York Times Company

* ttp://racing.scmp.com/Intrace/INT/hKIR06122006a.htm Profile of Tony Cruz
The Hong Kong Jockey Club – Trainer information
*

The Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...

br>
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz, Tony 1956 births Hong Kong jockeys Hong Kong horse trainers Hong Kong people of Portuguese descent Living people