MEASURED APPROACH AND DATA ANALYSIS THE KEY FOR FIRST SEASON SUCCESS, SAYS EUSTACE

Hong Kong's newest trainer hopes to use sports science to gain an edge on his competitors: 'It's a case of collecting as much data as you can'

Ahead of his first racing season in Hong Kong, David Eustace hopes a combination of a measured approach and data-driven decision-making can steer him to success in one of the world's most competitive jurisdictions.

After leaving an empire of nearly 1,000 horses with Ciaron Maher in Australia for an empty stable in Sha Tin, Eustace has been busy building his team, sacrificing a summer holiday to knuckle down in the sweltering heat.

"I'm happy with how everything is coming along," Eustace said. "I've got 26 horses in work and a few more to come over the next few months.

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"I really enjoyed the summer here. It was quiet and you could just get stuck into building some systems. I went up to Conghua once a week and I've got good staff and seven horses up there. So I'd say it's so far so good, but it's early days."

Like other recent additions to Hong Kong's training ranks, Eustace is planning to adopt a similar approach to Mark Newnham and Jamie Richards, emphasising a measured strategy early in the season.

"I'm not being deliberately slow, but I'm just taking my time and when they're ready, they'll run," Eustace said. "The horses seem to be training really well, we had two trial [on Saturday] and everything went to plan.

"I watched from the sidelines for three months when I arrived so I'm not stressed about that. I think everyone's aware that horses come into your care at different times when you have a new stable. I was keen to give them a little freshen-up and I think everyone is aware of that."

The 32-year-old, who plans to have his first runner on September 28, has also emphasised how he plans to utilise his expertise in data analytics and sports science, which he learned during his time with Maher.

By collecting data on his horses' heart rate, stride length and stride frequency, Eustace believes it may give him an edge over other trainers.

"It's a case of collecting as much data as you can and using that to make informed decisions on where horses are at fitness-wise, whether they've regressed and if they have, for what reason," Eustace said.

"It's a really good aid and it's a good guide of where horses are at. It's going to be interesting to see what sort of figures come out considering the climate and it will be something I monitor before making too many knee-jerk reactions.

"You'd just like to see the numbers being nice and smooth and consistent as you build up their workload. If they aren't, then there could be a reason for that.

"The variables training here in Hong Kong are much less than other places. The tracks are the same, the riders are the same, the distances you work over doesn't change a whole lot and the trials are on the same surfaces. That makes life easier potentially compared to other jurisdictions to assess the data."

While Eustace will sit and wait for his first runners to hit the track, the handler is confident he has the artillery to return to the winner's enclosure throughout the season.

He highlighted two horses he's looking forward to unleashing, including an Irish import owned by the Racing Club.

"The Racing Club horse is a very nice horse, Young Emperor," Eustace said. "He's had three starts, won a nice handicap in Ireland and he's settled in great. He's probably still eight weeks off a run, but he's nice.

"Of the horses that have come across from other trainers, I think Jumbo Fortune's going well."