__NOTOC__ David E. Ferraris (born 18 August 1963, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

) is a

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

trainer in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Early life and background

Born into a racing family, his father, Ormond Ferraris, was a champion trainer in South African racing. He won the South African trainers' title on four occasions, netting 25 Grade 1 victories in well over 1000 wins with the champions Classic Flag and Celtic Grove his most outstanding performers. Among his notable wins were the 1997 and 1998

Durban July Handicap The Hollywoodbets Durban July Handicap is a South African Thoroughbred horse race held annually on the first Saturday of July since 1897 at Greyville Racecourse in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. Raced on grass, turf, the Durban July Handicap is open to h ...

s, he trained the winners Super Quality and Classic Flag. The Durban July is considered to be South Africa's premier race. Ferraris has won nearly every major race on the South African racing calendar.

Life

In 2003, Ferraris moved to train in

where he met with continued success, notably with Vengeance of Rain, winner of several Group 1 races, including the

Hong Kong Derby The Hong Kong Derby is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually since 1873. Restricted to horses four-years-old only since 1981, the race is run in mid-March and is the premier event on the domestic racing programme with a purse of HK$18 m ...

, the Audemars Piguet

Queen Elizabeth II Cup The Queen Elizabeth II Cup is a Group One Thoroughbred horse race at Sha Tin Racecourse in the New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1975 by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, it is run annually in April over a distance of 2,000 metres (te ...

, the

Hong Kong Cup The Hong Kong Cup is a Conditions races, Group 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Hong Kong which is open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run over a distance of 2000 metres (about miles or 10 furlongs) at Sha Tin Ra ...

as well as the 2007

Dubai Sheema Classic The Dubai Sheema Classic is a Group 1 flat horse race in the United Arab Emirates open to thoroughbreds which are four-years-old or above. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately miles; 2410 metres since 2010) on the turf track a ...

Nad Al Sheba Racecourse Nad Al Sheba Racecourse was Thoroughbred horse racing facility in Dubai, United Arab Emirates opened in 1986. It had a 2,200 m left-handed dirt race track and a left-handed grass, turf course of the same distance. It operated from November throug ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. Vengeance of Rain retired with total stake earnings in excess of million. At the time of his retirement in 2008, Vengeance of Rain was one of the leading stakes earning racehorses in the world. Other major wins have come with Sweet Orange, winner of the

Hong Kong Classic Mile The Hong Kong Classic Mile is a domestic Group 1 four year old set weights Thoroughbred horse race in Hong Kong, run over a distance of 1600 metres. It was originally a Group 3 race and was the traditional lead-up race for the Hong Kong Derby. In ...

in 2012, and Liberator in the

Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup Hong Kong Champions & Chater Cup is a Hong Kong Thoroughbred horse race held annually in late May or early June at Sha Tin Racecourse. A Group One race that offers a purse of HK$12,000,000, it is run on turf over a distance of 2400 meters (prior ...

of the same year. In 2010/11, Ferraris trained 19 winners for an overall total of 251 wins. He sent out 17 winners in 2013/14 for a Hong Kong career total of 300. In 2015, Ferraris's horse Pikachu won a double in a rare Sha Tin win. Ferraris would nab another double a year later when his horse Amazing Always won a double at Happy Valley which was the sixth win in ten starts in the Classic Five for Ferraris and Amazing Always In 2017, Ferraris advocated for public notification of throat surgeries for racehorses. Ferraris drew from personal experience as his racehorse Nitro Express, who had throat surgery earlier, won three races after the surgery in 2015. As of 2018, Ferraris has 397 Hong Kong career wins. Ferraris's most recent horse is BREEDERS' STAR.

Significant horses

* Vengeance Of Rain *

Viva Pataca Viva Pataca () (foaled 7 May 2002) is a British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse, who achieved his greatest success when trained in Hong Kong. Background Bred by the Dukes of Devonshire and Roxburghe, he was out of the mare Comic and sired by En ...

Performance

References

1963 births Living people South African horse trainers South African people of Italian descent Italian diaspora in South Africa Hong Kong horse trainers {{Horseracing-bio-stub