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| Staff Writer |
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After winning £37.1m in prize money from over 4,000 rides, top jockey Neil Callan who is nicknamed 'Iron Man' will end an 11-year association with racing in Hong Kong, returning to Britain.
The winner of 282 races, had a disappointing final year,
having received a lengthy suspension for being disrespectful during a stewards' inquiry into alleged careless riding at Happy Valley in February.
The ban would have kept him out for the rest of the season, but following a successful appeal, it was reduced until the end of May. Since then, he has had six winners and he has three chances to sign off on a high on Hong Kong's final day of the season.
His biggest days have come with the brilliant Blazing Speed as the pair recorded two successes in the Champions and Chater Cup along with victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Callan also won the 2015 Hong Kong Classic Mile with Beauty Only and two years later rode Peniaphobia to Centenary Sprint Cup glory.
The Irish-born jockey rode his first Hong Kong winner in 2010 before joining full time four years later. Last month, Callan confirmed that he would not be reapplying for his licence in Hong Kong and would instead return to Britain to be with his family.