Rolston to Join Hong Kong Jockey Club

Long-serving New Zealand Bloodstock employee Danny Rolston will join the Hong Kong Jockey Club in a new position overseeing the International Sale while also liaising with the organization's influential cohort of racehorse owners. 

Rolston has been appointed as the HKJC's executive manager of international sales and owners advisory services, a role which was officially confirmed by the HKJC via an internal memo June 19, bringing to an end Rolston's almost 20-year association with New Zealand Bloodstock.

Importantly, Rolston is familiar with Hong Kong and the International Sale, having ridden breeze-ups at Sha Tin prior to transitioning into becoming a bid spotter at the sale from 2010 until COVID-19 prevented him from attending in recent years.

"I feel that I have got the experience and the skillset to fulfill this role very well. I have had quite a long association with the International Sale, dating back to the early 2000s... I feel like I've got quite a good understanding of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong market, and I do think that my experience will hold me in good stead to fulfill my responsibilities," Rolston told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

"The luxury they have is not having 2- and early 3-year-old racing, so you are allowing horses to fully mature and their facilities are world-class. There is a certain type of horse and particular bloodlines seem to work up there and I think I've got a pretty good handle on what's required."

Contracted HKJC agents Craig Rounsefell of Boomer Bloodstock and former champion Irish jockey Mick Kinane, who source horses for the International Sale in the southern and northern hemispheres respectively, will answer to Rolston.

Gold Coast-based Rounsefell took over the buying of yearlings in the southern hemisphere for the HKJC in late 2019 following the departure of long-time employee Mark Richards earlier that year. 

Rolston, 44, sees his move to Hong Kong as somewhat bittersweet, believing the New Zealand industry was heading in a positive direction after a difficult period, exacerbated by the pandemic, and emphasized that he is forever grateful for the opportunities that NZB provided him over nearly two decades.

"I started in 2004 as an insurance assistant and, ultimately, I progressed through to become a director of the company, so I am very grateful for the opportunities afforded to me by Sir Peter Vela, Andrew Seabrook, and the whole Vela family," he said.

"It is a great company and, after 18 years there, the staff and I have become very close and I feel like I am leaving NZB in a really strong position. I am very positive about the direction of the New Zealand racing and breeding industries. We have had a massive turning point in both areas and I am confident that the Ready to Run Sale and the Karaka sale in 2023 are going to be immense."

NZB managing director Andrew Seabrook said Rolston had been a wonderful contributor to the company and the wider New Zealand thoroughbred sector.

"Danny has done a wonderful job for NZB for over 18 years," Seabrook told ANZ Bloodstock. "The HKJC is extremely lucky to be getting Danny and I am sure he will do an outstanding job and represent New Zealand very well up there and we wish him all the best for the future."

Rolston officially finished up with NZB June 3, but such was his attachment and dedication to the company he was at Karaka for last week's National Weanling Sale providing assistance throughout the one-day auction.

The void left by Rolston's departure from NZB is not lost on Seabrook, but the experienced managing director stressed the company would not be rushed into filling the critical director of sales role.

The recruitment of Rolston comes after Racing Victoria's executive general manager of racing Greg Carpenter last week resigned after more than 17 years with the racing regulator to join the HKJC in a senior role with the organization later this year.

Rolston, who departs New Zealand on Friday, will undertake seven days of hotel quarantine in Hong Kong and be out in time to attend the breeze-up session at Sha Tin on Saturday, July 2, which takes place a week prior to the 2022 Hong Kong International Sale.

"On a personal level, I am really excited about the professional challenge. I am really proud to be appointed to work for such a world leader in our industry in the HKJC and I am really excited about the cultural opportunities for my whole family who are going to join me later in the year," Rolston said.

"Culturally, it is just coming at an awesome time for my family to savor the challenge of living somewhere different."

Rolston's wife Sharon and their two children, Jake and Adam, will join him in Hong Kong at the completion of the New Zealand school year in December.

He will report to Andrew Harding, the Club's executive director of racing.

The addition of Carpenter and Rolston to the management team in Hong Kong continues a somewhat of a changing of the guard in the Asian racing mecca, with champion Kiwi trainer Jamie Richards set to have his first runners in the new season, while fellow expatriate Paul O'Sullivan recently announced he would retire at the end of the current season after almost 20 years based in Hong Kong.