Chinese New Year Raceday is always one of the most anticipated occasions on the Hong Kong horseracing calendar and last Friday’s (31 January) meeting lived up to expectations with a brilliant afternoon of world-class racing and entertainment.
With attendance of 85,891 at Sha Tin and Happy Valley, the atmosphere was amazing as we hosted almost 10,000 tourists – the majority from the Mainland – which is a Chinese New Year Raceday record.
The wonderful pre-race variety show led by renowned singer Hins Cheung and the spectacular lion dance performance created a fantastic festive atmosphere and the day again showed the potential of Hong Kong racing as one of the unique tourist attractions the city has to offer.
We were grateful for the visit and support at the meeting of the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Rosanna Law Shuk-pui, who attended on Friday along with the HKSAR Financial Secretary, Paul Chan Mo.
One of the traditions of the Chinese New Year Raceday is the distribution of lai see at Sha Tin, which not only marks the observance of a wonderful custom, but is also a fantastic way to interact with our passionate fans, participants and staff who help to make Hong Kong racing so successful.
Apart from the high-class competition and off-track vibe on Chinese New Year, wagering turnover of HK$1.944 billion was especially pleasing with an increase of about 10 percent on the 2024 meeting. From this turnover, HK$178 million was paid to the HKSAR Government in betting duty.
These funds contribute to the betterment of Hong Kong’s society under the Club’s unique integrated business model.
As usual, this meeting produced exceptional on-track competition and the Four-Year-Old Classic Series started in fabulous fashion with MY WISH’s brilliant win for Mark Newnham and Luke Ferraris in the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Mile (1600m).
MY WISH was given a superb ride for Luke and showed tremendous determination to resist DIVANO and PACKING HERMOD over the last 100m, while DIVANO’s effort to finish off the race with a final 400m sectional of 21.93s after having to wait for a run approaching the 300m was impressive and bodes well for the HK$13 million Hong Kong Classic Cup (1800m) on 2 March.
While MY WISH, DIVANO and PACKING HERMOD shape as leading candidates for the Hong Kong Classic Cup, MICKLEY again had little luck in the Hong Kong Classic Mile after being well back on the home turn and finishing fifth. He will be better suited at 1800m as he heads towards the HK$26 million BMW Hong Kong Derby (2000m) on 23 March.
Mark and Luke have forged a strong partnership over the past two seasons and MY WISH’s success represents the pinnacle of their shared achievements so far. At 23, Luke is the youngest jockey in our roster, but he continues to make great progress and, with 24 wins for the season, sits behind only Zac Purton (80), Hugh Bowman (37) and Vincent Ho (27) in the championship.
Mark is in only his second season as a trainer in Hong Kong and, after 31 wins in the 2023/24 campaign, already has 26 wins this term. Renowned for his ability to reinvigorate older horses, Mark also has a strong penchant for developing unraced horses into quality racehorses, notably MY WISH who, despite suffering from appetite and temperament issues, has claimed one of Hong Kong’s most prized races and risen to a rating of 95.
Mark’s versatility as a horseman was also on display on Friday with MID WINTER WIND’s spectacular debut win over 1200m. A Group 3 winner over 1400m in South Africa, MID WINTER WIND showed his class by producing the meeting’s fastest final 400m sectional of 21.72s in storming from last to win first-up under Luke.
It will be very interesting if Mark decides to aim at the Hong Kong Classic Cup and BMW Hong Kong Derby with MID WINTER WIND, who is one of the first horses to travel to Hong Kong from South Africa following the removal of a 13-year ban on the direct export of horses from South Africa to Europe because of African Horse Sickness.
We have worked via the Asian Racing Federation with our South African colleagues and the World Organisation for Animal Health since 2011 to reconnect South African with the international racing and breeding community, which was essential for the South African industry.
The improved access to South African horses opens up new opportunities for Hong Kong owners to acquire quality horses in a very competitive market.
South African horses have long proved their worth on the international stage and I look forward to the arrival of more quality South African gallopers in Hong Kong, attempting to match the feats of LONDON NEWS, VARIETY CLUB, JJ THE JET PLANE and others.
Hong Kong racing continues tonight at Happy Valley, where the feature race is the Class 2 Tsun Yip Handicap, which is run over 1650m at 8.10pm for HK$3.12 million.
The pace is expected to be good with TELECOM FIGHTERS (Karis Teetan) likely to lead from barrier three from FLAMINGO TRILLION (Alexis Badel) and MOMENTS IN TIME (Zac Purton), who will attempt to get a position close to the speed from barrier eight.
HELENE FEELING (Harry Bentley) returned to form with a strong win in the G3 January Cup (1800m) on 8 January when carrying only 117lb. He has a good record at Happy Valley with four wins and three placings from 11 starts. Despite rising to 133lb, he is a win and place chance.
MOMENTS IN TIME made a mid-race move in the January Cup to sit outside the leader before finishing fifth. He meets HELENE FEELING 6lb better at the weights and is a course and distance winner. He is my second choice as a win and place.
MR ASCENDENCY (Luke Ferraris), CAPITAL DELIGHT (Vincent Ho) and RED HARE KING (Matthew Chadwick) are all place chances, while TELECOM FIGHTERS is a seven-time course and distance winner. SENOR TOBA (Andrea Atzeni) closed off solidly last start and will jump from barrier one, while MR ASCENDENCY is a course and distance winner.
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