Besides being a leading provider of sporting entertainment, the Club plays an important role in the local economy as a major employer. In total, we have over 26,000 staff, many of them working in part-time positions which are especially appreciated by, for example, housewives who have to fit their working hours around the needs of their families, or students who use evening jobs to help fund their studies. Our raceday operations also create indirect employment for thousands more people in the transport, catering and media industries, to name but a few.
Like everyone in Hong Kong, we are delighted to have seen the local economy picking up quite strongly in recent months. But still we continue to play an active role in the local job market. During the past two days, the Club has set up a booth at the Education and Career Expo being held by the Trade Development Council at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, offering about 70 full-time and 600 part-time posts ranging from Restaurant Manager and Equestrian Affairs Assistants, to part-time Telebet and catering service assistants. Expo visitors have been able to submit applications for these posts on the spot and in some cases even attend immediate interviews.
By participating in the Expo, we hope to recruit more talented individuals, who showed great enthusiasm for the racing sport and share the Club's corporate values of customer centricity, to join our work team.
Although my work commitments made me not feasible to visit the Expo in person, I understand from my colleagues that the response has been overwhelming, with nearly 10,000 people of different age groups visiting the booth, and 700 applications being received. Many of them, it seems, have sound knowledge about racing and the Club, and are very enthusiastic about building careers in the sport. I look forward to welcoming many of these newcomers to our big family very soon.
Tomorrow at Sha Tin Racecourse will also be a time for welcoming new talent, as we will be hosting the second race of the four-year-old series, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Cup, with another young horse potentially joining domestic Group 1 company.
This race was formerly known as the Hong Kong Derby Trial, but we have renamed it this year to match its newly-promoted status from a Group 2 to a Group 1 event. The total purse has also been doubled to HK$6 million, putting it on a par with the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile. With all three races in the four-year-old series now boasting Hong Kong Group 1 status, we hope we can attract our Owners to import even more quality runners into Hong Kong.
I believe tomorrow's contest will be as fascinating as ever. I did a little research and found that three of the last four Derby winners participated in the Derby Trial race, but they all were not race winners as Helene Mascot and Super Satin ran second while Vital King only finished fourth. That’s why apart from the race winner, racing fans should pay close attention to the other placegetters in this 1800m event.
Tomorrow will also see South African jockey Piere Strydom starting his riding stint in Hong Kong and he has seven rides lined up. He shouldn’t be an unfamiliar name for our older local racing fans, as he was based in Hong Kong for two seasons in the mid-90s. But his most recent return to Hong Kong in December was especially memorable, as he gave a superb performance in riding J J The Jet Plane to victory in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint. We are pleased to have him back riding with us in Hong Kong until the end of the season. I hope you will all give this South African champion your great support.
Going back to the Classic Cup, I think it’s for me the best quality field we had ever and I am really look forward to this race. With the expected slow pace, it should help Lucky Nine from Gate 8 to find a box seat position and if he stays the 1800m, he will be difficult to beat. Xtension has again had a bad draw with 12 and has to come again from the back of the field and try to catch Lucky Nine, but he has more proven stamina which gives him a chance to turn the result from last time. Free Judgement improved significantly and he’s a real chance, too. Again the question mark is in relation to the distance, but in my assessment he should be seeing out the 1800m trip.
Let Me Handle It is working very well and will enjoy every inch of the race and has for me a good chance to upstage all favourites. Ambitious Dragon is on his way up and a very exciting horse which can surprise, but my concern is that going from Class 3 into a Group 1 is a major step up in class. The real dark horse is Treasure Lands for me for who ran a very good race in the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile last time, and was put paced in the straight but stayed on very well in the final 200m. With his British 2000m Listed Race form, he’s for me a real chance and even a potential Derby candidate.
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