Egan content in Hong Kong John Egan, who is on the eve of riding in the richest race of his career, sees his immediate future firmly in Hong Kong with no plans to ride in Britain this year. The 32-year-old Irishman, who is currently third in the Hong Kong jockeys` championship, describes his mount on Daliapour in Sunday`s Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin as 'my biggest race ride so far.' But the jockey said that he nearly gave up with Hong Kong about a month after he had arrived there last autumn. 'It was proving even tougher to get established than I had imagined and it ran through my mind that maybe I had made the wrong decision.' However, he is currently lying third in the table with 42 winners after a morning track-work conversation with chief steward John Schreck persuaded him to stick with it. The rider is hoping that his name will be among the new batch of licences that will shortly be awarded for next season. 'If I get another licence for Hong Kong I won`t be riding in Britain this year,' he explained. 'It is more important to take some time off and come back here freshened up for the restart in September. 'However, I would certainly see myself back in England one day, preferably with a good job from a decent stable.' Asked whether he keeps up with racing back in England, Egan, who is based with his wife Sandra and their young son in Jockey Club accommodation a stone throw from Sha Tin racecourse, said: 'To be honest I keep up more with how the jockeys and trainers are doing rather than the horses. 'Also I speak to Kieren (Fallon) and Frannie (Norton) on the phone quite often.' Egan says that riding Hong Kong`s leading QEII Cup candidate Industrial Pioneer to win the Centenary Vase at Sha Tin in February was just one of many highlights from this season. 'I enjoyed the irony of that win. When the same horse was called Sobriety in England last season he beat me a whisker in the John Smith`s Cup at York,' said Egan. Meanwhile the jockey is quietly confident of a big run from the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Daliapour in Sunday`s HK1million race despite the fact that the colt has disappointed in three starts since his victory in the Hong Kong Vase last December. 'I believe that he is back to a similar weight as he was in December and he certainly brought a smile to my face when I worked him the other morning.'
