A relieved, effusive Keith Yeung paid special tribute to retired trainer Almond Lee after the jockey broke a frustrating run of outs with his victory on Namjong Plus in the Class 3 Kwoon Chung Macau Express Handicap (1800m) at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.

Namjong Plus wins the Kwoon Chung Macau Express Handicap for jockey Keith Yeung

Yeung became the 18th of 21 active riders to get on the scoreboard this season with his win on the Me Tsui-trained Namjong Plus. For Yeung, though, it was a first victory since he triumphed aboard Top Score on 25 April – although the 30-year-old jockey said that he felt the six-month gap was overstated.

“There were a lot of people writing that I hadn’t had a winner in six months, and that’s true if you look at it simply,” Yeung said. “However, I didn’t ride for most of June and we didn’t race for most of July and also in August so it really has only been a month or two. It was annoying me a bit, but you can’t control it. There’s not much you can do as a jockey, we do our job and that’s the best we can do.

“When it comes to a race, all you can do is make as few mistakes as possible. For the most part, I’ve been riding well and so I knew my luck would turn around, it always does, but it’s a matter of waiting for that to happen. In the meantime, I’ve been riding plenty of work – 10 horses at least every morning, sometimes up to 16 – I’ve been doing yoga and also plenty of homework. I wanted to make sure I was ready for the opportunities that came my way.”

The win of Namjong Plus was also bittersweet for Yeung, as the Zacinto five-year-old was one horse who had been transferred away from his former mentor Lee when the trainer’s licence was withdrawn at the end of last season.

“It was nice and not nice at the same time,” Yeung said. “It hurts me a little bit, of course, because I am close to Almond, but the work he did with this horse had him ready to progress this season. I owe a lot to Almond, both professionally and personally.

“Almond has always been a great teacher to me, during my apprenticeship we would always spend hours at the stables checking every horse. I also feel that he made a big change with me; when I was a kid, I was arrogant, I was terrible, I was not nice and I hated myself. I did so many things wrong but, over the years, he corrected me and I eventually became a better person, and I will never forget that.”

Namjong Plus (121lb) showed his trademark turn-of-foot late to defeat Dynamic Eagle (111lb) by a neck, with Brave Legend (128lb) third, two lengths behind the winner.