The curtain has come down and our international week this year has come to an end. Last Sunday’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races were an enormous success. Not only did we host a very successful international sporting event that earned high accolades and some very good responses from owners, trainers, jockeys and other guests from all over the world, our local racing fans also offered their staunch support as over 54,000 people attended our races.
Although the late scratching of Mile contender Able One incurred refunds of HK$35 million to our betting customers, the daily turnover was still at an encouraging figure of HK$1,057 million, which was HK$23 million higher than that of last year and the highest figure in eight years.
While these figures reflected the ever increasing interest of Hong Kong people in our flagship international events, I would say they are not the most important of all as this race meeting is just all about the sport. With a 50,000-plus crowd coming to the racecourse, we have again demonstrated the status of racing as the most popular spectator sport in Hong Kong. For the four international Group 1 race events we had winners coming from the UAE, South Africa, Great Britain and our home team Hong Kong. In my opinion, these results have all but demonstrated the vast international representation in the field, and we duly claimed the title of the Turf World Championships.
As of these exciting races and terrific results, it was for me one of the best days of races we have ever had in Hong Kong. I think what we do here is not only for the Club, as I firmly believe that with the success of this fantastic sporting event, we put Hong Kong on the map, which it has always been good for the Club – and in a wider sense – for the brand of Hong Kong.
The four races were also very fascinating and competitive. The last eight editions of the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint has been won by our home runners, but this year the prize goes to South Africa’s JJ The Jet Plane. Although it means we are unable to further extend the winning streak, I think this overseas victory, in the medium term, remains a good and positive thing. Instead of the race being dominated by just one nation or region, it will encourage other top sprinters from around the world to come to Hong Kong and challenge for the race knowing that they do have a real chance for success.
Although the Hong Kong team lost the Sprint, we still retained the Mile thanks to Beauty Flash who remarkably overcame the bad draw to win this HK$16 million event. Along with spirited performances given by Irian, Sacred Kingdom, Packing Winner and Let Me Fight, their tremendous performances on our home turf remains to be something we can really be proud of. But personally, I would choose Snow Fairy as the most outstanding galloper of the meeting. In my view, her Cup victory was one of the most astonishing performances ever produced at Sha Tin. As in my last blog, I didn’t predict Snow Fairy to win as the expected slow pace would make it very difficult for her to come from the back, and I did not anticipate this special filly will make this mission impossible being possible. It was surprising to see her sectional time of 21.97 seconds in the last two furlongs was the same sectional that could be created by other top sprinters. From that phenomenal performance she really showed that she is one of the world’s star runners and I’m convinced she will attain even greater height in next season.
I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to the great efforts made by the Club team and all my colleagues, as it was the thousands of them who worked behind the scenes that ensured this international event enjoying such a fantastic success. This again shows our can-do spirit and that we all in the Club are connected as a great team.
After the big races, let’s return to our local race meetings as there are eight races on our Happy Valley programme this evening, including three Class 3 events which all runners are eligible to contend for the 1O1O Million Challenge. I expect the Chak On Handicap will be with a hot and open contest, as it will be run at a hot pace with four horses, including Golden Bauhinia, Jun Dao, Secret Of Winning and Lucky Red, to compete for the lead. This should give Supreme Taiji and Ever Beauty the chance to find a good position behind the speed and both are my two favourites for this race. I like Supreme Taiji the most as he’s a 4-year-old which has not reached his full potential. He should be able to handle the fast pace and "outstay" Ever Beauty. The other main chances are for me Jun Dao coming from gate 4 and even Diamond Knight who is drawn to start from gate 11, he will also be helped by the pace in case he goes back.
In the Hoi Lai Handicap, it is expected to be run at a good pace and Project Runway from gate 9 could get the lead with Juggernaut. Even Project Runway runs first time at 1650m, he should have the stamina indicated by his pedigree to stay the distance and has a good chance to win the race with Maxime Guyon on board. Leo's Pride ran very well last start. He has done plenty of work and with Gerald Mosse on board this time, he and another runner - Euro Swiftly with Douglas Whyte chosen to ride – will be two other key contenders in this mile event, too. Last but not least, Dennis Yip-trained Ottimo who is coming back to his winning distance of 1650m, will also be difficult to beat.
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