TRAINERS

Corine Barande-Barbe (FR) - SIA Cup: Cirrus Des Aigles

Born on 30th March 1958 Corine is the former wife of well known French bloodstock agent Patrick Barbe. She trains in Chantilly where she has around 50 horses in training, of which Cirrus des Aigles is very much the stable star. She first took out a licence in 1991, and before her success with Cirrus des Aigles, she had also trained the talented filly Carling to win the Group 1 races the Prix de Diane and the Prix Vermeille in 1995. The highlight of her 2011 season was undoubtedly the victory of Cirrus des Aigles in the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, but in numerical terms it was also her most successful with 43 winners which ranked her in 15th place in the French trainers' championship.

Cliff Brown (SG) - SIA Cup: New Rose Wood

A licensed "A" Grade trainer from Melbourne and a Horse Business Management alumnus of the famous Marcus Oldham College, Brown is the youngest trainer in the history of Australian racing to have trained three Derby winners at Group 1 level. He trained 13 Group 1 and 2 winners including the 1997 Rosehill Guineas, 2002 Adelaide Cup and the South Australia Derby in 1995, 1996 and 1999, along with numerous other black-type races before relocating to Singapore in 2008. Brown also has had a number of Melbourne Cup runners including MARKHAM who ran a gallant third in 1997. Brown counts the 2011 Group 1 Emirates Singapore Derby with CLINT as his highlight and enjoyed his best season in 2011, registering 55 winners and finishing in sixth position with a strike-rate of better than 12.5%.

Steven Burridge (SG) - SIA Cup: Speed Baby - KrisFlyer: Captain Obvious

Steven Burridge, 57, has been in the racing industry since 1970 when he started out as an apprentice jockey licensed by the Victoria Racing Club. He received his professional jockey licence in 1975. He rode on the MRA circuit on a visiting jockey permit in 1987 before riding in Macau from 1989 to 1994. He returned to the MRA circuit in 1994 to work as a track rider for several trainers. From 1999, he was Stable Supervisor to several trainers in Malaysia and Singapore before becoming a trainer in his own right. He won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup twice with King And King (2006) and Trigger Express (2008). Burridge came close to earning some local pride when King And King ran second to Cosmo Bulk in the 2006 SIA Cup. Burridge landed his first Singapore Trainer's Premiership in 2010, preparing 90 winners for the season before finishing fourth last year with 62 winners.

Jane Chapple-Hyam (UK) - KrisFlyer: Secret Asset

Jane Chapple Hyam was born in Australia and is the former wife of Epsom Derby winning trainer Peter Chapple-Hyam. She was his assistant for around 15 years in the UK and Hong Kong, before taking out a licence in her own right in September 2005. Based in Newmarket, Jane has saddled around 130 winners in her career to date, and enjoyed her best season in 2011 when she sent out the winners of 31 races. Her biggest win in her career to date came in 2006 when she saddled Mudawin to take the prestigious Ebor Handicap at York, one of the most valuable handicaps on the UK calendar, at the rewarding odds of 100/1. Secret Asset came close to giving her a Group 1 success when beaten a short neck in the Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp in October last year.

Robert Collet (FRA) - SIA Cup: Dream Peace

Robert Collet, 64, is one of France's longer serving trainers, having set up in 1978 in Chantilly when he purchased his yard from the late Marcel Boussac. His brother Gerard, and son Rodolphe are also trainers. Before starting on his own, Robert Collet was assistant to the Cunnington brothers, John and Jacko. Currently Collet trains around 150 horses. Over the years he has enjoyed considerable success both in France and overseas. He won the English St Leger with Son of Love in 1979, the Breeders' Cup Mile in 1986 with Last Tycoon, the Washington DC International and the Japan Cup in 1987 both with Le Glorieux. He has won the Canadian International (River Memories - 1987), the E P Taylor Stakes twice (Truly A Dream 1994, and Choc Ice 2001). More recently he trained Whipper to win three Group 1 races in three years, the Prix Morny in 2003, the Prix Jacques Le Marois in 2004, and the Prix Maurice de Gheest in 2005.

Tony Cruz (HK) - SIA Cup: California Memory

Tony Cruz is one of the big name players from Hong Kong. The 55-year-old started out as a jockey, riding his first winner at Happy Valley in 1974 before heading to Europe in the late 1980's where he enjoyed considerable success and rode a number of prestigious Group 1 victories. He was champion jockey on six occasions and has won more races than any other jockey in Hong Kong. Since turning his hand to training he has enjoyed outstanding success, training two-time Hong Kong Horse of the Year Silent Witness (2004/05) then followed up the year after with Bullish Luck. Most of Hong Kong's big races have fallen his way as a trainer including the Hong Kong Derby, the Classic Mile, Champions Mile, the Hong Kong International Mile and last year he won the Hong Kong Cup with California Memory.

Leticia Dragon (SG) - KrisFlyer: Perfect Pins

Leticia Dragon has always had the pedigree to become a horse-trainer. Her grandfather was a jockey as was her father, recently-retired trainer Douglas Dragon, and her late uncle Chris, an accomplished jockey who tragically died in his prime in a car accident. It was therefore no surprise that Leticia left her job as an air stewardess to become more involved with the stables in 2004. In 2007, she completed a 12-month thoroughbred trainer's course at Traintech on the Gold Coast, Australia in six months, including a placement with trainer Gillian Heinrich. She became her father's assistant-trainer in 2008 and took over when Dragon Snr retired at the age of 69 at the end of the 2011 season. In her first five months of training she has already 10 winners including two doubles during the month of February.

Caspar Fownes (HK) - SIA Cup: Thumbs Up

Caspar Fownes, 44, assisted his father Lawrie Fownes for several seasons, before taking over the mantle from his father in the 2003/4 Hong Kong season. He sent out 44 winners in his first season as a trainer, eclipsing his father's best seasonal effort, and in the 2006/7 season won his first trainer's premiership before reclaiming it in 2009. His most important win came via The Duke in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile in 2006. He also saddled the first four past the post when Green Treasure won the Group 3 Sha Tin Trophy in 2009. Having trained 56 winners in the 2010/11 season that also saw Lucky Nine give him a first Hong Kong Sprint, Fownes currently sits in sixth position on the table with 34 winners. Fownes is not at his first Kranji visit, having sent Bowman's Crossing (third) for a tilt at the SIA Cup in 2006 and Sanziro (also third) in the KrisFlyer Sprint in 2008 before his success with Green Birdie in 2010.

Michael Freedman (SG) - SIA Cup: Always Certain - KrisFlyer: Better Be The One, Mr Big

Michael Freedman, 44, joined the Kranji training ranks in April 2008. Younger brother of Hall of Fame trainer Lee, Michael has also been the Racing Manager at Lee Freedman's Markdel property in Victoria before coming to Singapore. Freedman has learned a lot from his brother after working alongside him for about 20 years. Despite being around for a fairly short period of time, Freedman has already netted more than 220 wins in Singapore, including some silverware such as the Group 1 Raffles Cup with Cheyenne Dancer and Always Certain, the Group 2 EW Barker Trophy with Any Humour and Super Easy among others. The past two years have seen Freedman head on to the international stage with Better Be The One, campaigning him on Dubai World Cup night at Meydan with a third placing in 2011 his best performance.

Michael Halford (IRE) - KrisFlyer: Invincible Ash

Born on 6th June 1962 Michael Halford first took out a trainer's licence in 1984 having previously spent time as assistant to Irish trainer Noel Meade. He rode as an amateur jockey and trains on both the flat and over jumps. Over the past ten years Michael has enjoyed consistent success under both codes. His best year was in 2005 when he sent out 54 winners on the flat and finished fourth in the Irish trainers' championship. In 2010 he saddled Casamento to win the Group 2 Beresford Stakes and followed up with the same horse in the Racing Post Trophy Trophy to record his first success at Group 1 level. Since 2000 Michael has sent out more than 500 winners on the flat and over jumps.

Waldemar Hickst (GER) - SIA Cup: Zazou

Born on 11th December 1963 in Kirghizia he was a successful jockey there and in Kazakhstan for a number of years during which time he rode over 400 winners. He also combined riding with training horses as well in Kirghizia where he sent out 57 winners. He moved to Germany in 1991 and continued his career as a jockey for a further ten years before resuming training. Hickst is now established among the leading trainers in Germany. In 2006 he won the German Oaks with Almerita, and Zazou has advertised his training skills to a wider audience with a victory in the 2011 Premio Roma in Italy, a third place finish in Hong Kong, and a fifth in the Dubai World Cup this March.

David Hill (SG) - SIA Cup: Flax

The experienced David Hill, who started his career in India under the tutelage of his father in 1969, was previously licensed by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, where he trained 377 winners and was crowned joint champion trainer in Hong Kong in the 1992/93 racing season. The Englishman applied the polish to River Verdon, who was three times Horse of The Year and remains the only Triple Crown winner in Hong Kong. Hill has been a dedicated hard worker since relocating to Kranji in 2006. Onceuponatime has been more than a fairytale horse to him, having provided him two feature wins, the 2007 Magic Millions Juvenile Championship and the 2008 Singapore Guineas.

Theo Kieser (SG) - KrisFlyer: Yin Xin

Theo Kieser has been in Singapore since 1998, starting off as track rider, stable supervisor and assistant trainer for trainers Michael Clements, Peter Muscutt and most recently Laurie Laxon. Prior to his relocation, the South African, who had a shortlived stint as a jockey, weaved a 25-year-long career in racing in his native country, working for noted handlers like Vaughan Marshall and Michael Airey. Kieser is a complete horseman who can also shoe his horses and even do their teeth. He took out his Trainer's Licence in 2009 but 2012 has been his year with 18 victories at a healthy strike-rate of more than 19%. While winless in a feature race to date, Kieser is garnering a reputation as "King of the Kids" with his success with the juveniles.

Carlos-Laffon-Parias (FR) - SIA Cup: Chinchon

Spanish-born Carlos Laffon-Parias hails from a racing family. He was champion amateur rider in Spain five times then moved to Chantilly, France, in 1986 to become assistant to Criquette Head for five years until 1991 when he took out a licence to train. He had to wait until 1998 for his first Group 1 success, when Spadoun won the Criterium de Saint Cloud, a race he landed again in 1999 with Goldamix. Further success in France came in the form of a Group 1 victory with Nadia for Maktoum al Maktoum in the 2001 Prix St Alary. Amongst the best horses Laffon-Parias has trained is the miler and multiple Group race winner, Keltos, whom he saddled to take the Group1 Lockinge Stakes in 2002 at Newbury in England. Laffon-Parias features regularly amongst the top ten trainers in France every season. He is no stranger to Singapore as Sarrasin represented him in the 2004 SIA Cup but could only manage seventh behind Epalo while in 2008 he fared better with Balius running third to Jay Peg while Chinchon, his runner this year, finished fifth behind Gitano Hernando last year.

Laurie Laxon (SG) - SIA Cup: Waikato

Six-time champion trainer Laurie Laxon, 66, is undoubtedly one of the best trainers based at Kranji. The New Zealander has more than 30 years of experience in racehorse training, during which his biggest achievement was capturing the 1988 Melbourne Cup with Empire Rose. Before plying his trade in Singapore, Laxon also added the 1993 Hong Kong International Cup to his trophy cabinet courtesy of Romanee Conti. After a slow beginning to his Singapore career in 2000, Laxon has subsequently always finished in the Top 5 on the trainer's premiership, which he won in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. He broke his own record of 100 wins registered at Kranji in 2004 when he hauled in 104 wins in 2008. Despite his success on the domestic front, a win in the SIA Cup has eluded the affable Kiwi even after fielding runners without fail since 2001. Waikato, a horse he also owns, almost pulled off the feat in dead-heating for third behind Gitano Hernando last year.

John Moore (HK) - SIA Cup: Zaidan

John Moore, 62, has been involved in Hong Kong racing for 40 years, since the beginning of the burgeoning industry. After being assistant trainer to his legendary father George, who himself was a multiple champion trainer in the former British colony, Moore commenced his training career in 1985, winning the premiership on five occasions. Moore has enjoyed many successes in feature races winning the prestigious Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint with Inspiration in 2008, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby in 2009 and Citibank Gold Cup with Collection, and more recently saddled an international double thanks to Viva Pataca in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup and Able One in the Champions Mile before adding two more Champions Mile with Xtension. Moore currently sits in equal second place on the Trainer's list in Hong King this season with 42 winners giving him a career total in excess of 1250.

Fawzi Nass (BAH) - KrisFlyer: Krypton Factor

Fawzi Nass is 41 and a native of Bahrain where he has around 60 horses in training, mainly owned by himself, although he trains a few for other owners. In 2007 Nass bought Aislabie Stud at Stetchworth just outside Newmarket, where he boards around seven of his own mares, and houses permanent boarders for other clients. He also has a few horses in training in the UK but concentrates on Bahrain and Dubai during the period October through to April. Krypton Factor gave him his biggest success when taking out the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan in March.

Patrick Shaw (SG) - KrisFlyer: Rocket Man, Ato

South African Patrick Shaw, 55, started out as stable employee in 1988 before being upgraded with a professional trainer's licence by the Jockey Club of South Africa in 1990. Shaw was consistently amongst the top 10 trainers in South Africa before relocating to Singapore in 2001. He came into prominence in 2002 when his charge Palace Line won the International Group 3 Singapore Classic and the Singapore Guineas. Boosted by his close association with prominent South African owner Fred Crabbia, Shaw has prepared useful horses like Blizz Bless, Que Expresion and War Horn, but none probably come close to Singapore's current megastar, Rocket Man, who has won 20 races from 27 starts, including four Group 1 Lion City Cups. He scored a first for Singapore when Rocket Man won on Dubai World Cup night in 2011 in the Group 1 Dubai Golden Shaheen before finally breaking through last year in the KrisFlyer at his third attempt. Shaw clinched his first Trainer's Premiership victory last year preparing 78 winners.

Hideyuki Takaoka (SG) - SIA Cup: El Dorado

Hideyuki Takaoka was training horses for more than 10 years with the National Association of Racing (NAR) in Japan until December 2002 when he moved his operations to Kranji. A jockey-turned-trainer, he received his professional trainer's licence in 1992. In his Hokkaido training base, he bagged 337 winners including several in graded races. He saddled Crow River in the 1996 Hokkai Yusyun and then sent out Tosho Lucky to win the 1998 Young Challenge Cup. In 1999, his charge, Takino Special captured the Hokkaido Yusyun for two-year-olds and another charge, NAMI won the Edelweiss Yusyun in 2000. He topped the NAR Trainers Championship in 2000 with 54 winners. In that year, he was also voted the best trainer of the Hokkaido Racing NAR Grand Prix. In Singapore, he has taken a while to show his wares, but after a period of adaptation, is now firmly entrenched in the Kranji training ranks. Takaoka has trained his fair share of winners in Singapore but will be best remembered for two main feats: winning the Singapore Gold Cup three times with the same horse - El Dorado (2008, 2009 and 2011), and the Triple Crown in the 2009 Four-Year-Old Challenge with Jolie's Shinju, culminating with the famed Singapore Derby.

Mark Walker (SG) - SIA Cup: Flying Fulton

Record breaking New Zealander Mark Walker is a five time Premiership winning trainer and arrived in Singapore in the latter part of 2010 with outstanding credentials. Back home the 2009/10 season saw him set a new record of 108 winners, bettering the 17 year-old mark of 104 previously held by Dave and Paul O'Sullivan. He also became the youngest trainer to win the Premiership when at 31 he took the prize in the 2003/04 season and in 2008/09 established a New Zealand record in prizemoney won - earning NZ$3.71 million. More than 800 winners have passed through his hands, of which more than 90 have been in "black type" races, including 20 at Group 1 level, among the most notable in New Zealand being three Kelt Capital Stakes including back-to-back victories in 2007 and 2008 with Princess Coup and in Australia the TJ Smith Handicap with Darci Brahma in 2005. Walker has quickly made his mark in Singapore, landing his first feature race at his first full season in 2011 with Flying Fulton in the Group 3 Committee's Prize. The same horse then added the Group 3 Polytrack Mile Championship and the New Year Cup in 2012.

Mahmoud Al Zarooni (UAE) - SIA Cup: City Style

Born in Dubai, Al Zarooni is 35, trains for Godolphin, and is based at Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket for the European summer, and at Al Quoz Stables in Dubai during the European winter. He became a licensed trainer in March 2010, and hit the headlines when his very first runner Calming Influence won the Godolphin Mile at Meydan on Dubai World Cup night, and then he saddled Allybar to finish third in the Dubai World Cup itself. In his first season in England he sent out a total of 43 winners, among which most notably were Buzzword to win the German Derby in Hamburg, and the two-year-old Biondetti to win the Premio Gran Criterium at San Siro in Italy. 2011 saw more success for Al Zarooni in Dubai adding the Dubai Sheema Classic on Dubai World Cup night in March with Rewilding and one month later landed his first English Classic when the 16/1 shot Blue Bunting and Frankie Dettori got up to win the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket. His biggest claim to fame came this year when he took out the biggest prize of all, claiming first and second with Monterosso and Capponi, in the Dubai World Cup in March.

JOCKEYS

Azhar Ismail (MAL) - SIA Cup: Speed Baby

Big-race jockey Azhar Ismail, 48, is a seven-time champion jockey in Malaysia who has ridden over 900 winners including many at Group level in Malaysia and Singapore. Since his first classic win captured on Imperial Justice in 1983, the Penang-born Azhar has gone on to add more cups and trophies to his cabinet. His big successes include three Coronation Cups (1990, 1991 and 1998), three Selangor Gold Cups (2001, 2002 and 2007) and the Penang Gold Cup with Professional Man in 2008. On his occasional travel to Singapore these days, he made two trips count last year when he landed the Group 2 Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Fatkid and the Group 1 Patron's Bowl with Speed Baby.

George Baker (GB) - KrisFlyer: Secret Asset

George Baker began his riding career in 1999 and quickly established himself riding 55 winners in only his second season. In his career to date that number has grown to around 770 winners in the UK. His best seasons were in 2008 and 2010 when he rode 115 and 102 winners respectively. His 2011 season was curtailed when he broke an arm in a fall at Wolverhampton in October. At 6ft in height George is the tallest jockey in the English weighing room, which is why he has a minimum riding weight of 9 stone or 57kg, and has to manage his daily regime very strictly to maintain his weight at that level. Big race wins include the Group 2 Summer Mile on the Chris Wall trained Premio Loco in 2010, and he also won the Group 3 Blue Square Winter Derby at Lingfield in March of this year on the same horse.

Stephen Baster (AUS) - SIA Cup: Always Certain - KrisFlyer: Mr Big

Melbourne jockey Stephen Baster, 37, joined the riding ranks in Singapore early this year and has taken little time in establishing himself as one of the leading jockeys at Kranji. Baster has been riding for more than 20 years and has more than 1000 winners to his credit including 11 at Group 1 level which included the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap aboard Mookta while still an apprentice. Before relocating to Singapore, Baster had been stable jockey for the Dale Sutton stable in Victoria for the past four years. At Kranji, Baster currently sits third on the Singapore jockey's premiership on 27 wins, including the Group 3 Kranji Sprint on his KrisFlyer mount Mr Big as his highlight thus far.

Mickael Barzalona (FRA) - SIA Cup: City Style

Formerly apprenticed to leading French trainer Andre Fabre, Mickael Barzalona is a young 20-year-old French prodigy who soon caught the eye of the mighty Godolphin Stable. Barzalona scored his first Group 1 win for them aboard Wavering in the Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp last May. More classic winners were to folllow in the famous sky blue silks. The Corsican-born jockey however scored his most famous win for old boss Fabre at his very first ride in the Investec Epsom Derby last year aboard Pour Moi. Barzalona was this year enlisted as one of the two understudies (other one being Brazil's Silvestre de Sousa) to Italian ace Frankie Dettori at the Godolphin stable, and immediately justified the trust with success in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup with 20-1 outsider Monterosso in March.

Danny Beasley (AUS) - SIA Cup: New Rose Wood KrisFlyer: Yin Xin

Danny Beasley, 36, had ridden close to 1,200 winners mainly for leading Sydney trainers Gai Waterhouse and Guy Walter and was also the stable jockey for successful racehorse owner John Singleton before moving to Singapore in 2007. Among his feature wins were 14 Group 1 races including the Golden Slipper (Polar Success), the Newmarket Handicap (Miss Pennymoney), the Doncaster Handicap and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes with the horse he probably had the best association with, Waterhouse's brilliant galloper Grand Armee. Beasley rode in Hong Kong, Macau, and Malaysia before calling Singapore his port of call. Beasley has established himself as one of the leading riders at Kranji and has claimed a few feature races including the Group 1 Raffles Cup with Cheyenne Dancer.

Opie Bosson (NZ) - SIA Cup: Waikato

With more than 1,100 winners to his credit, Bosson, 31, was a boom apprentice in New Zealand and has remained one of their very best up to now in spite of his weight problems. Bosson took out the 2009/10 New Zealand Jockey's Premiership before finishing third last season. He has won many feature wins (37 Group 1 wins) at home and in Australia where the Group 1 VRC Oaks aboard Grand Archway as an apprentice in 1998 ranks the highest. In New Zealand, Bosson forged a formidable partnership with current Kranji trainer Mark Walker (then in Matamata) with wins in the New Zealand Oaks and Kelt Capital Stakes with Princess Coup, the Telegraph Stakes and Waikato Draught Sprint with Darci Brahma and the 2000 Guineas with King's Chapel as his best achievements. The New Zealander has had several stints in Singapore and built a reputation as a big-race jockey with victories in the Singapore Gold Cup aboard Recast in 2007 and the Emirates Singapore Derby in 2010 aboard Race Ahead. Bosson, who is licensed to ride at Kranji until June, recently made a flying visit to the Gold Coast where he landed the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes with New Zealand mare Shez Sinsational.

Oscar Chavez (SIN) - KrisFlyer: Captain Obvious

Panama-born Oscar Chavez, 37, has been riding on the MRA circuit since 1993. With more than 700 wins to his credit, Chavez has been one of the most successful expatriate riders in Singapore and Malaysia, though after marrying a local in Singapore, he is considered more as a local rider now. Chavez had a brief experience in Macau in 2005 but the family man prefers to concentrate his riding career at Kranji with the odd visits to the three Malaysian Clubs in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Ipoh. He however put his name on the international map last January when he won two races with Captain Obvious and Ip Man in Dubai during the rich Dubai Racing Carnival. Chavez does not often ride in feature races at Kranji but has the Group 1 Kranji Mile (2006) with Recast to his name. He also won the inaugural EW Barker Trophy with Blizz Bless in 2002 and scored on Bold Explorer in 2000 when the race was known as the Silver Cup. Last year, Chavez captured the Group 3 Merlion Trophy aboard Tuxedo Moon. He is very popular in Malaysia where he has won many feature races, but is perhaps best remembered for his association with handy mare Confluence with whom he won the Penang Gold Cup in 2001, the Piala Emas Sultan Selangor in 2002 and the Selangor Gold Cup, Coronation Cup and Penang Sprint Trophy in 2003.

Gary Carroll (GB) - KrisFlyer: Invincible Ash

Born on 22nd August 1989 Gary Carroll comes from a racing background, his father rode for Dermot Weld and John Oxx and his grandfather was a leading national hunt jockey in Ireland in the sixties. Gary was successful pony racing as a young boy, before going to work for Michael Halford. He was quick to make a name for himself in Ireland winning the Irish Apprentice's Championship in 2009 and tied for the title in 2010. Big race wins include the Ebor Handicap at York in 2009 on the Willie Mullins trained Sesenta, and the Irish Cesarewitch on Dani California. He struck up a good partnership with Invincible Ash winning four races in 2010, and in June 2011 he won the Group III Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh on that horse, for his first Group race success.

Felix Coetzee (SA) - SIA Cup: California Memory - KrisFlyer: Rocket Man

Like wine, South African jockey Felix Coetzee, 53, is getting better with age. As a 15-year-old, Coetzee attended the Jockey Academy at Summerveld before starting his indentures with his father at his Kwa-Zulu Natal racing stable. Coetzee now boasts an impressive record of over 3,000 winners in a career spanning 37 years in mainly his native South Africa and Hong Kong where he is best remembered for his association with three-time World Champion Sprinter Silent Witness. Some of the biggest wins claimed by the three-time South African champion jockey include three July Handicaps, a record-equalling seven Gold Cups and five J&B Metropolitan Stakes. In 1992, he accepted an offer to ride in Hong Kong where he enjoyed considerable success. Topping the list among his major victories in the former British colony and overseas are two Hong Kong Sprints (2003 and 2004) and Japan's Sprinters Stakes (2005), all with Silent Witness. Coetzee made an emotional farewell to Hong Kong in 2008 to re-establish himself in South Africa, but has remained in the international limelight with his recent association with Singapore sprint star Rocket Man, with whom he won the Dubai Golden Shaheen last March and the KrisFlyer International Sprint last May.

Olivier Doleuze (FRA) - SIA Cup: Chinchon

Olivier Doleuze, 40, is the son of Georges Doleuze, a former jockey turned trainer in France. Olivier's career started in France where he was champion apprentice, riding principally for top French trainer Criquette Head-Maarek, for whom he won many races, including the French 2000 Guineas on Green Tune in 1994, and the Prix de Diane in 2000 aboard Egyptband. He also won the 2001 running of the KrisFlyer Sprint on Iron Mask for Head-Maarek, but finished unplaced aboard Daymarti in the SIA Cup the same year. Doleuze relocated to Hong Kong in 2001/02, and he has partnered close to 375 winners in Hong Kong since. He enjoyed his best season numerically in 2006/7 with 67 winners. He also won the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile three times: The Duke (2006) and Good Ba Ba (2007 and 2009).

Kieren Fallon (IRE) - KrisFlyer: Krypton Factor

Kieren Fallon was born in County Clare ,Ireland on February 27th 1965, and began his career in Ireland with trainer Kevin Prendergast before moving to England in 1988, where he rode for trainer Jimmy Fitzgerald and then Lynda Ramsden. His career gradually took off and in 1996 he finished third in the jockeys' title race with 136 winners. That year he became stable jockey to trainer Henry Cecil and was champion jockey in 1997, 1998 and again in 1999. But his riding agreement with Cecil was terminated during the course of that year and he began 2000 as stable jockey to Sir Michael Stoute. However Fallon's 2000 season ended abruptly in a fall at Royal Ascot. He resumed the following season, and was champion jockey again in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2005 Fallon left Stoute to take up the position as first jockey at Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle Stables in Ireland, a move that brought him more Group 1 success highlighted by Irish Derby and Arc winner Hurricane Run. But that arrangement came to an end, and in recent seasons Fallon has once again been operating as a freelance, with his most recent big race success being that of Krypton Factor in the Dubai Golden Shaheen. During his career which has had many highs and lows, he has won just about every major European Group 1 race, several of them more than once, and has been one of Europe's outstanding jockeys for the past fifteen years. His tally includes 14 British Classics (including three Derbies), 6 Irish Classics, 2 'Arcs' and 2 Breeders' Cup races.

James McDonald (NZ) - SIA Cup: Zaidan

During his first season of riding, McDonald, 20, was crowned New Zealand champion apprentice, backing it up the following three years by claiming both the champion apprentice and champion jockey awards. McDonald has ridden around 600 winners, including many at Group level, with the New Zealand Oaks with Jungle Rocket and the New Zealand Breeders Stakes with Special Mission among the most important achievements on the domestic scene. Last season, besides establishing a new New Zealand record of 207 winners in a season, eclipsing Lisa Cropp's mark of 197 wins, McDonald also won his first Australian Group 1 race aboard Scarlett Lady in the Queensland Oaks last June. He has since ridden extensively in Australia, particularly in Sydney. He recently scored his most important overseas win when he landed the Group 1 BMW Champions Mile in Hong Kong aboard Xtension for trainer John Moore. The son of Cambridge trainer Brett McDonald is no stranger to Singapore having ridden on short-term licence on three occasions, mainly on the invitation of trainer Laurie Laxon. He was the most successful at his first visit in August 2009 when he landed three wins from 10 rides.

Joao Moreira (BRZ) - SIA Cup: Flying Fulton - KrisFlyer: Better Be The One

Joao Moreira, 28, has been the pin-up jockey at Kranji since he arrived in 2009. After showing his wares with a third place on the jockey's premiership on 69 wins at his first foray, the Brazilian jockey went on to smash records on his way to two premiership titles (2010 and 2011). Moreira first pulverised the previous record of most wins held by Noel Callow (106) to wrap up the season with 116 wins, before bettering the score even further in the next season with 153 wins. Back in Brazil, Moreira, who has been riding since 2000, was a rider of over 1000 wins, mainly garnered in Sao Paulo, including the Grade 1 Grande Premio Diana and Grande Premio Henrique de Toledo Lara, both captured in 2008 with top filly Bubbly Jane at Cidade Jardim. Moreira also rode Brazilian champion Eu Tambem to success in the Grade 1 Derby Argentino in Palermo, Argentina in 2006. Moreira has also ridden in France, Dubai and Uruguay and is a two-time Brazilian Eclipse Award (Trofeu Mossoro) winner (2006/7 and 2007/8). Moreira has already ridden five Group winners this year but his only Group 1 success came with Intercept in the 2010 Patron's Bowl. Moreira is well on his way to another record-breaking season as he is currently the runaway leader with more than 90 wins.

Gerald Mosse (FRA) - SIA Cup: Dream Peace

Gerald Mosse, 45, is a former champion apprentice jockey in France where his master was none other than former Hong Kong-based trainer Patrick-Louis Biancone. Mosse quickly rose through the ranks to sign as stable jockey for legendary trainer François Boutin and his stable of horses belonging to Jean-Luc Lagardere. The feature wins soon started falling his way so much so he has tallied an amazing haul of some 50 Group 1 winners in Europe, the most notable being the 1990 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe with Saumarez. Mosse then spent 1992 and part of 1993 racing in Hong Kong, before securing a lucrative contract between 1993 and 2001 with leviathan owner the Aga Khan. He then returned to Hong Kong where he has claimed most of the classic races such as three Hong Kong Derbies, a Champions Mile and arguably the most famous win in the 2010 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile with Beauty Flash. Mosse now splits his time between Hong Kong and major European and international races. On November 2, 2010, Mosse added another feather to his cap by becoming the first French jockey to win the Melbourne Cup on the US-bred horse Americain.

Alan Munro (GB) - SIA Cup: El Dorado

With more than 20 years' experience as a jockey, Munro, 45, won the 1991 English and Irish Derby's aboard Generous, who also provided him with victory in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Stakes in the same year. He also claimed the 2006 Irish 2000 Guineas aboard Araafa among 15 Group 1 wins that have been claimed in six different countries. In 1994 Munro left the UK to ride in Asia where he rode with success in Hong Kong and Japan as well as having a stint in South Africa. In 2000, he took a riding sabbatical taking up karate where he fought on the international stage before resuming his riding career in New Zealand in 2005. After spending a year on the sidelines following a head injury suffered in 2006, Munro resumed riding in the UK in 2008 before heading overseas again, this time to Qatar, before beginning a new stint in Singapore last July. With nine wins at his first experience, it was not surprising he was granted a one-year extension at Kranji this season. Munro rides freelance but has formed a successful alliance with Japanese trainer Hideyuki Takaoka. Half of his 14 victories (seventh on the ladder) this term have been provided by Takaoka.

Olivier Peslier (FRA) - SIA Cup: Cirrus Des Aigles

First apprenticed to Patrick Biancone, Olivier Peslier, 39, has since graduated to become one of the finest jockeys France has produced. From his first winner at Rouen in 1989, Peslier has dominated the French racing scene, capturing his first major success in Ireland in the 1995 Irish Derby aboard Winged Love. Since then he has captured many of the world's major races including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe three times - Helissio (1996), Peintre Celebre (1997) and Sagamix (1998) while international victories include the English Derby with High-Rise (1998), a Hong Kong Cup with Vision d'Etat (2009), two Hong Kong Vases with Doctor Dino (2007, 2008), the Irish 2000 Guineas with Desert Prince (1998), the Coronation Stakes and Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Banks Hill (2001), the Japan Cup on Jungle Pocket (2001) and Zenno Rob Roy (2004) and last but not least, the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic with his SIA Cup mount Cirrus Des Aigles last March. Peslier will also be remembered as the partner of French super mare Goldikova, with whom he combined to win the Breeders' Cup Mile a record three times.

Brett Prebble (AUS) - SIA Cup: Thumbs Up

Brett Prebble, 34, is a former champion apprentice with former Kranji trainer John Meagher and twice champion jockey in Melbourne where he teamed successfully with David Hall. Prebble's Hong Kong breakthrough came aboard Precision in the Champions & Chater Cup in 2003 and in 2005 he added the Group 1 Australia Stakes on Hong Kong sprinter Cape Of Good Hope at Moonee Valley. He claimed his biggest Hong Kong victory in the Hong Kong Sprint with Absolute Champion in 2006 and has since won again in 2009 with Sacred Kingdom and last year with Lucky Nine. A perennial second (in the last five seasons) in the Hong Kong jockey's championship, Prebble is also no stranger to success in Singapore having won the KrisFlyer with Sacred Kingdom in 2009 and during one of his visits back home, Prebble won Australia's premier sprint race for juveniles, the Group 1 Golden Slipper on Crystal Lily in 2010.

Andreas Suborics (AUSTRIA) - SIA Cup: Zazou

Andreas Suborics was born in Vienna on 11th August 1971 and is married with two children. He rode his first winner in Vienna on Donjan on April 4th 1988, and since then has ridden over 1500 winners, including 81 Group races of which 16 have been at Group 1 level. He has been based in Germany for most of his career, although is currently riding in Hong Kong. He landed his first Group 1 race on A Magicman in the Prix de la Foret in 1996, and has been associated with such good horses as Tiger Hill, Shirocco (German Derby), Silvano and Paolini. He has been champion jockey in Germany three times, in 2002, 2004 and 2006. Suborics rode Silvano to victory in the Singapore Cup at Kranji in 2001, which proved to be the start of a remarkable international treble, as Silvano and Suborics went on to win the APQE II Cup in Hong Kong in April and the Arlington Million in Chicago in August of that year. Andreas has suffered career threatening injuries at least twice in his years as a jockey, and in March 2010 suffered head injuries while riding in Hong Kong that caused him to announce his retirement in August of that year. However, the doctors subsequently gave him the green light to carry on, and in December 2010 he announced his intention to resume his career, and he duly did so.

Jose Verenzuela (VNZ) - SIA Cup: Flax - KrisFlyer: Perfect Pins

Venezuelan-born jockey Jose Verenzuela, 43, is a veteran of 24 years in the saddle, with approximately 1,200 winners to his credit, mostly captured in his homeland, the United States and Saudi Arabia. After starting his career as an apprentice in Venezuela, Verenzuela moved to the US, initially on the East Coast, mainly in New York, New Jersey, Florida and Chicago, before going West to California, mainly at Del Mar and Santa Anita. Verenzuela started riding in Saudi Arabia in 1999 and rode for Prince Sultan Al Kabeer. Verenzuela earned international acclaim in 2009 when he landed the US$ 2 million Group 1 Golden Shaheen (1200m) in Dubai for the Prince aboard the Jerry Barton-trained Big City Man. He has also claimed the title twice in Saudi Arabia (2000/01). His latest overseas adventure took him to Singapore where he netted a good haul of 40 winners in 10 months. His licence extended for another year in Singapore.

Barend Vorster (SA) - KrisFlyer: Ato

South African jockey Barend Vorster, 35, has been riding since 1993 and has booted home around 980 winners. The lightweight jockey made his Singapore debut in October 2003, starting his love affair with the Republic island on a two-day permit. He enjoyed the racing at Kranji so much he decided to return full time in 2004, and has not looked back since. That year turned out to be a stellar year for Vorster when he won the coveted Singapore Jockeys Championship in commanding style. Vorster has claimed his fair share of big races, with the highest acclaim coming in the Group 1 Lion City Cup with Why Be in 2007 and Rocket Man in 2011. Backed by the powerful Patrick Shaw stable, Vorster has consistently finished in the Top 10 since his premiership-winning year in 2004.