Millard retires from Hong Kong training ranks

Trainer Tony Millard. Photo: HKJC

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has confirmed the retirement of trainer Tony Millard.

The club’s licensing committee approved Millard’s application to relinquish his trainer’s licence, as the 61-year-old brings down the curtain on a training career that had entered its fourth decade and yielded more than 700 winners in the city.

A former champion trainer in South Africa, Millard made an immediate impact on his arrival, winning the 2000 Hong Kong Derby with Keen Winner in his first season.

Ambitious Dragon, twice crowned Horse of the Year, provided his most spectacular successes in Hong Kong, with 13 career wins that included two Group One and five local Group Ones.

Millard’s most recent big-race success came at the tail-end of the 2020-21 season, in the Group One Champions & Chater Cup with Panfield.