A few of you may remember from earlier blogs that my home town is Mönchengladbach, a city of about 250,000 people in the western part of Germany. Most local football fans will be familiar with the name through the city's famous football club, Borussia Mönchengladbach. The club has been established for more than a century but came to prominence after joining the Bundesliga in 1966, and has since won the league championship five times, as well as the old UEFA Cup twice.
Famous German footballers who have played for Mönchengladbach over the years include Berti Vogts, Jupp Heynckes, Lothar Matthäus and Oliver Neuville.
Mönchengladbach endured a disappointing 2010/11 season, finishing 16th in the league and having to rely on success in the play-offs to avoid relegation. However, I'm glad to see they've enjoyed a great reversal of fortune so far this season, after making a sensational early start. Last night they played arch-rivals Cologne in the "Rhine Derby” and they won emphatically by 3-0. It was their 9th victory of the season and they now have 29 points from 14 matches, surpassing Bayern Munich and reigning champions Borussia Dortmund to head the Bundesliga at the moment.
The team have greatly benefited this term from the sizzling form of attacking midfielder Marco Reus, who has already scored 10 goals in the Bundesliga. The performances of this 22-year-old prospect have also caught the attention of national team coach Joachim Löw. Marco made his debut for Die Mannschaft against Turkey in October, and is now attracting strong interest from other top European clubs like Manchester City and Arsenal.
Having supported Mönchengladbach since childhood, I very much hope Marco will stay on through the coming European transfer window and help the club achieve their aim of a top three finish in this year's Bundesliga, which would secure them a Champions League spot and the chance to challenge some of Europe's powerhouse teams next season.
In Japan, meanwhile, I know the J-League is approaching the end of its current season. There are just two rounds of matches left in the league schedule, with surprise leaders Kashiwa Reysol now heading perennial title challengers Nagoya Grampus by three points. They host Cerezo Osaka today and a win could well set them up for the first J-League championship in their club's history.
It was only last year that Kashiwa secured promotion back to the top flight, so it would be quite a sensation if they went on to become the first promoted side in J-League history to win the Division 1 title.
I'm actually in Japan at the moment, and would love to be able to watch their crucial match against Osaka today, but as you might guess I've come to the Land of the Rising Sun with a different sport in mind. I'm here for the Japan Cup this weekend, and I will be in the grandstand at Tokyo Racecourse to watch tomorrow's race.
In my view, this year's renewal beckons to be one of the most exciting Japan Cups in recent decades, as the race pits some of Japan's best middle distance runners, such as Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa and supermare Buena Vista, against top-notch overseas raiders like this year's Arc winner Danedream from Germany and runner-up Shareta from France.
You all will have the chance to watch this exciting battle, and observe the current form of four Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races selected runners –Sarah Lynx, Trailblazer, Victoire Pisa and Shareta – in our live simulcast tomorrow.
The Japan Cup is one of the best quality 2,400m races in the world and one of the toughest to win for overseas horses due to the outstanding quality of Japanese middle distance runners. This year sees again a strong Japanese defense but with strong challengers overseas like Danedream and Shareta.
The pace will be as always good and the ground will be on the firm side. Buena Vista lost the race last year under very different circumstances looking from the Hong Kong perspective. And after her run in the Dubai World Cup, she has not won again. Her trackwork has improved and I see her as a win and place chance. Pelusa is another strong Japanese contender with winning chance. He has been always seen as a promising horse but he has failed to make good on that promise. Win Variation, the only Japanese three-year-old in the field, has a strong late kick and is probably the dark horse in this race. If Danedream can produce her Arc de Triomphe form, she will be hard to beat. As does Shareta who has a place chance for me. I, however, would still go with a Japanese horse especially Eishin Flash is my first choice as he’s the course and distance winner in the Japanese Derby last year.
Of course, I will not be forgetting our 11 races at Sha Tin, as I've also studied the form of these races when I was in the flight to Japan earlier today. The Chevalier Cup is the main race with a cracking field. The expected pace should be good with Leading City, who is better suited at the 1400m than last time at 1200m, to go up front. Aashiq is likely to join him in the front but he has not found his best form yet, while Sweet Orange should be well placed just behind the speed and he has a good place chance for me. Noble Alpha ran a fantastic race last time and is working well. With a good draw from Gate 1, rather than being drawn 12 last time, he’s for me the horse to beat in this race. Voile Rouge should be well placed too, and I see him as a top-three chance. Captain Sweet is working extremely well but has drawn Gate 14. He is still the main danger to Noble Alpha but with the better draw, I prefer the son of Shamardal to win.
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