De Sousa signs off from Britain with winner on last ride

Silvestre de Sousa made his last ride in Britain for the time being a winning one when partnering the Chris Dwyer-trained Sir Oliver to victory at Yarmouth.

It was a trademark De Sousa ride, with the Brazilian showing all of his strength aboard the well-backed 11-8 favourite as the pair kept on gamely for a one-and-a-half-length success in the seven-furlong Fat Larry’s Burgers Handicap.

The three-time British champion is now set to head to Hong Kong for an initial six-month spell and will look to add to the success he enjoyed in the Far East in 2018 when landing the Hong Kong Cup on Glorious Forever as well as winning the Longines International Jockeys’ Championship.

The 2022/23 Hong Kong racing season kicks off at Sha Tin on September 11, and De Sousa told Sky Sports Racing: “I will miss riding here and the people I ride for, but the opportunity has come and I feel like it will be good.

“It will be competitive, but I like to be competitive. But it is a lovely environment, the racing is good and I’m looking forward to it.”

When reminiscing of his 17 years on the UK circuit, the Brazilian added: “It feels like a long time, I have been around a while and I know every track in Britain.

“I rode a lot of winners and a lot of support and I’m thrilled with my career in this country.”

It is yet to be determined whether De Sousa will return to the UK after his initial spell in Hong Kong and it was his fitting his final ride, and winner, was trained by the husband of his agent, Shelley Dwyer.

She added: “I thought we might have a double, so I was a little bit nervous heading to the last.

“It’s been hard work (being De Sousa’s agent), but good fun and we’ve had some really good times. We get on well.

“He lives next door and his previous agent was taking a break and he asked if I’d look after him for a few months and it went on – a lot.

“He gives everything a go, loves it and loves riding here, But it’s just unfortunate and hard to fight British racing’s corner when you’ve got offers from Hong Kong.”