Most European football leagues are now coming to the end of the season. No doubt those of you who are football fans will be paying keen attention to some key crunch matches that will decide the league titles, settle the relegation issues, or determine who qualifies for the European competitions next season. It's also likely that these key matches will attract more local betting interest than ever. But while most local football fans will place their bets through the legalised betting channel provided by the Club, there will inevitably be some others who choose to patronise illegal bookmakers. Please don't be tempted to do it, as it's a criminal offence!
Police efforts in combating these illicit bookmaking activities have always been crucial. I saw reports earlier this week of a high-profile operation by the Police in early hours of Sunday, in which a couple were arrested on suspicion of running illegal bookmaking activities through a wedding services business. They allegedly took online bets through wireless channels and appliances such as iPads and iPhones, with betting slips and records worth HK$18 million being seized in the raid.
International Olympic Committee Chairman Jacques Rogge recently warned of the growing global threat to sport from illegal bookmaking activities, noting that the total value of the illegal market was now estimated to be some US$140 billion a year. This huge amount of money drained from the legal channels will certainly affect the income received by sports organisers and authorised betting operators, as well as the tax revenues generated for the governments concerned.
In the meantime, I have also received some enquiries about the latest progress and availability of iPhone betting services to be provided by the Club. I’m pleased to tell you all that the Club’s development of the iPhone betting app is close to completion. We have already submitted this new app to Apple and are awaiting its approval to allow this app to be placed in the Apple Store for iPhone and iPad users to download. Once we have the approval from Apple, this free of charge app will allow our betting account customers to enjoy racing, football and Mark Six betting services.
Turning back to our races today, you may have noticed we are having the season’s second griffin race, with four runners competing in the field. This season, with the Hong Kong International Sale date having being changed to March, we have moved back the start of our griffin season accordingly to April. We believe this will give the connections more time to prepare their griffins before sending them out to race.
In the season’s first griffin event a fortnight ago, on 25 April, David Ferraris-trained Bear Hero won impressively, and looks to me to be an exciting new horse. He will line up again today with three other griffins, which is certainly less than an ideal number. However, we have to strike a fair balance, as a cancellation of this race would affect the ongoing griffin race arrangements and possibly interrupt the racing plans for these young runners, which is not desirable either. So as always, we are upholding our commitment to maintain the number of griffin races, and we do believe there will be more entries for the next griffin event scheduled on 29 May.
Quite soon, you can see if Bear Hero can collect his second win of the season or whether another potential new star will emerge. Meanwhile, the other 10 races in our entertaining programme at Sha Tin today include three trophy events, so there should be plenty more to look forward to.
In the Kowloon Cricket Club Centenary Cup, it is expected to be run at a good pace which gives every horse a fair chance. Bold Tack from Gate 14 has to be pushed to get to the front which will makes it more difficult for him to win or being placed. An improving horse I see in Sharema Feeling and the extra distance of stepping up from 1200m to 1400m should help him. His last form is better than the form line suggests as he had not a clear run over the concluding stages of the race. My favourite is Peppermint from Caspar Fownes stable. Given to his impressive victory last time, even dropping back in distance is not a concern to me. King On Earth also has a nice chance to get a top three finish as he will be returning to this distance, while Istide and Grandfield, to be ridden by Douglas Whyte and Greg Cheyne respectively, are some interesting outsiders in this race.
The Hong Kong Riding For The Disabled Association Cup is a very competitive Class 3 event. With an expected good pace, those who positioned on the outside fence of the 1000m straight course may enjoy a slight advantage. From the statistics side, horses who are in the lead at the 400m have a significantly higher strike rate, and therefore I prefer horses on the speed. This should favour Space Race who is an upcoming three-year-old trained by Tony Cruz, as well as Xi Ying Men – another interesting 3-year-old who ran third last time over course and distance and applies blinkers for the first time in this run. The best horse for me is Eagle Regiment but the draw of Gate 3 will make it more difficult for him. An interesting newcomer is King Mossman who is very talented, but he missed the start in his barrier trial which makes him a risky bet. My dark horse who is coming back to form is the 5-time course and distance winner Lucky Red from Gate 10. I think he has a nice chance to finish in the money.
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