Prat Aiming High in Hong Kong

California-based jockey Flavien Prat has already achieved much in what is still a tender career in the saddle. The 25-year-old registered the first Group 1 success of his career aboard Wertheimer et Frere's Indonesienne (Ire) (Muhtathir {GB}) in the 2013 Prix Marcel Boussac and since his permanent relocation to the U.S. in 2014, has notched 16 Grade I wins. Those include a maiden Breeders' Cup victory atop Obviously (Ire) (Choisir {Aus}) in the 2016 Turf Sprint, and he most recently put a tactically flawless ride on 'TDN Rising Star' Battle of Midway (Smart Strike) to upset the GI Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar. Prat will look to pad his CV when he represents the red, white and blue in Wednesday's Longines International Jockeys' Championship (IJC) at one of the world's most unique circuits, Hong Kong's Happy Valley Racecourse.

“I am very pleased and honored to be able to represent the United States,” Prat said last week. “I have heard a lot of good things about Hong Kong. Everybody that I know that has been there has really enjoyed it and said it was a great experience.”

Year in and year out, the IJC attracts eight of the top riders from all corners of the globe who square off against four of the best local jockeys. Prat will attempt to accumulate the most points over the course of the four races of the IJC and will face a field that includes the record-setting Joao Moreira, Ryan Moore and Hugh Bowman, to name but a few.

“That's the goal, to ride at the very top level against the very best jockeys and ride the best horses,” Prat said. “I rode against Ryan Moore in the Breeders' Cup, but it's fantastic to ride against the best jockeys from different parts of the world like Hugh and Joao. I am sure I can learn from watching them and I look forward to that.”

In the three years on American soil, Prat has earned the respect of Hall of Fame horsemen such as Battle of Midway's trainer Jerry Hollendorfer and Richard Mandella. It was for the latter conditioner that Prat rode 'TDN Rising Star' Paradise Woods (Union Rags) and Avenge (War Front) to Grade I wins on the Sept. 30 program at Santa Anita.

“Sure, it means a lot,” Prat said. “I've worked hard for that, but sometimes you work hard and you don't have what you expect. It's great to work with fantastic horsemen like them. It's always better to ride for them than against them.”

Prat's stateside agent is Derek Lawson and he believes his client is prepared for this and the many other challenges that may lie ahead.

“He is ready to take the next step up in his professional career, so riding with such an elite group will make him understand that he is just on the doorsteps of being an international jockey,” Lawson said.

While American-based jockeys Victor Espinoza (2nd in 2003) and Cornelio Velasquez (T3 in 2008) have 'hit the board' in the IJC, no U.S. rider has won the event. The difficulty of the task at hand isn't lost on Prat, but he's definitely in it to win it.

“I plan on making the most of the experience–that's how you learn and that's how you improve,” Prat said. “If I can win the Championship, that would be the cream on top, but I am there to try to win races, that's the goal.”