Hi all! Let me first offer my thanks to all those of you who came to our racecourses to join our first raceday of the season on Sunday, despite the unstable weather condition early in the morning. In total, there was an attendance of some 48,500, which created a great atmosphere. I was glad to see that so many of you enjoyed the races and the various on-course programmes we arranged. Though turnover slipped by 6 per cent compared with the opening day of last season, I would rate it a satisfactory start, given that the summer break has been relatively shorter and we had almost 20 per cent fewer runners. I believe this will only be a temporary phenomenon and that fields will return to their normal size in two to three weeks' time, as more horses have already received regular training and participated in barrier trials.
In Sunday’s feature race, the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup, it was great to see Lucky Nine become the first three-year-old to win this season opener since its inception 13 years ago. The way he trounced his older opponents was really outstanding, especially the acceleration he showed on the home straight. I agree with the post-race comments of his trainer Caspar Fownes that this horse looks the real deal. Let’s see if he can continue to improve and deliver some good performances at Group level later this season.
I always enjoy seeing potential new stars getting good results, as they inject new interest and momentum into our sport. I'm sure our racing fans will be equally thrilled to see the emergence of these new rising stars to whom they can give their support.
Earlier today we have announced the launching of the My Rising Stars online voting campaign, which will be commenced this Sunday. This will be the first time a Club campaign for all racing fans to choose their loved horses from among these eye-catching young runners, and totally have their own say. After the completion of the voting period, we will then follow the latest news of the 10 most selected horses closely, and share this information with racing fans before each runner's next race. All participants in the voting campaign will also have the chance to win attractive lucky draw prizes and perhaps contest even bigger prizes. So please visit the Club’s website and cast your votes when the campaign starts next week.
Before then, racing fans can turn their attention to our first Happy Valley meeting of the season tonight, which also marks the commencement of this year's 1O1O Million Challenge. Since we launched this Happy Valley series back in 2003/04, it has attracted the participation of many capable runners, and played a valuable role in lifting the racing quality at our city racetrack.
This season we are glad to begin a new business collaboration with mobile service provider 1O1O, who will become title sponsor of this season's series. I'm sure it will produce some thrilling battles over the coming months, just as it has in previous years. I hope you will also enjoy the other on-course activities we've arranged tonight, including a match game for the chance to win mobile handsets, and two-for-one beer special offers. So please encourage your friends and work colleagues to join our racing party night at the Valley this evening.
I've spent some time studying the eight races on the card, and I expect there to have some keen contests in few of these events. For instance, although there are just seven runners in the Beech Handicap, I think it’s a very interesting and challenging race. Tony Cruz-trained Norman Invader is quite fit and won his barrier trial at Sha Tin a fortnight ago. He will probably lead the race when he starts from Gate 1. Even the weight he carried will be a bit of concern, I think he still has a nice chance in this six-furlong event. Two other Happy Valley performers, including Perfect Gear who had a nice trial, and Elite Sixty-Six who is working well at trackwork recently, will be the other main challengers, too. The surprise could come from John Size’s Always Something, as he’s one of John’s few runners who have participated in barrier trials pre-season, as required after his heart irregularity record after a race in June.
In the Cherry Handicap, Ricky Yiu’s runner Matsukaze should lead the race with a good pace. This five-year-old horse has shown nice improvement late last season and I think he should have a good chance of being placed. However, I think Fun Rider has even a better chance as he looks nice in training, while Derek Cruz also started the season very well with his victory on Cerise Cherry in the opening day. I’ll see how this runner performs in this mile race. For the other runners, Best Military from the in-form jockey Zac Purton, and the Andreas Schutz-trained Upgrading, which will be ridden by Douglas Whyte this time, can also finish close in this race.
Comment
