Despite the damp and miserable weather, there was a decent attendance and an electrifying atmosphere at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday as we hosted the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup – our only 1000m Hong Kong Group 1 event of the season. And the racing action didn't disappoint, with just half a length separating the top five runners as they fought out a battle to the wire.
Eagle Regiment, whose rating was 21 points lower than top-ranked Sacred Kingdom, eventually took the honours in this first leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series under an outstanding ride from French jockey Olivier Doleuze. Although the horse was facing a huge step-up in class, his previous start having been a win at Class 2 level, he overcame these disadvantages to bring trainer Manfred Man the first Group One victory of his training career.
With this latest success, Eagle Regiment has now notched up six wins and three seconds from his nine starts on Sha Tin’s 1000m course, which underlines his exceptional strength at this distance. I have to admit that I underestimated this four-year-old, as I didn’t expect him to make such a big step forward. He deserves to be given full credit for this terrific performance, and I believe his absence from last month’s International Races meeting could well be one of the reasons for his success this time, as it made him a crucial bit fresher than opponents.
I was a bit disappointed by Little Bridge, though, as he had every opportunity in the race but appeared to be one-paced in the final stage. I tipped Let Me Fight for a place chance and was pleased to see him perform well. As for Joy And Fun, following his gallant second in last month’s Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint, he again produced a terrific run even in defeat. He settled very close to the pace, and I was surprised to see this eight-year-old maintaining his speed so well to secure a runner-up finish. I'm very much looking forward to finding out how he and Eagle Regiment perform in the second leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series, the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, in three weeks' time.
With lots of other activities organised on Sunday to match the stylish theme of our sponsor Kent & Curwen, there was much to enjoy besides the performance of this rising young horse. I had the chance to meet and chat with Peter Phillips, whose regal family have very prominent ties with equine sport – his mother Princess Anne was an Olympic equestrian rider, while his grandmother Queen Elizabeth II is a well-known racehorse owner and devotee of the sport. Peter told me that he much enjoyed coming to watch the horse racing when he was working in Hong Kong's banking industry a couple of years back.
Also there was popular local singer and actor Aaron Kwok, who has been the Hong Kong Brand Ambassador for Kent & Curwen for the past two years. 
I've met Aaron several times before, but am always delighted to chat with him again, as we share a passion for both horses and sports cars. In fact, he also served as our own Sporting & Charity Ambassador in 2004, helping us to promote local horse racing and the Club’s “Racing for Charity” message.
I’m sure we shall see Aaron at the racecourse even more frequently in future, for as some of you may know, he was among our successful PPG import permit applicants this season. His griffin from New Zealand arrived yesterday evening and will be joining Caspar Fownes' stable to receive pre-race training. And next season Aaron will have even further involvement, as he and fellow singer Julian Cheung have gained a PPG import permit for 2012/13 season.
Aaron apparently told the media that he intends to name the horse after one of his popular songs, so it will be interesting to see which one he chooses. It will probably be several months before the horse is ready to debut on home turf, but when that happens, I'm sure it will attract huge attention from both racing fans and other fans of Aaron who are not so familiar with the sport. I see that as a very positive development, as horse racing is increasingly widening its appeal to become a popular form of social entertainment in Hong Kong. Many local people from all walks of life now see a day or night at the races as the ideal platform for regular gatherings with their friends and business partners.
We certainly welcome Aaron to our horse-owning ranks and it’s nice to have celebrities like him demonstrating their passion for horse racing. It will definitely help raise the profile of Hong Kong racing and attract more people to follow the latest Club news and developments.
In the meantime, the racing action returns this evening to Happy Valley, where there is just a month to go before this season's 1O1O Million Challenge concludes. Four of the current top 10 contenders will be looking to strengthen their position in tonight’s races, including Happy Yeah Yeah in the Sports Road Handicap.
In this Class 3 event over 1200m, it is expected to be run at a good to fast pace. There are up to six horses who will usually take the lead or race handy, with Time Runner, Ocean Wide and Gamekeepers being the main pace influences. Gamekeepers has a good track and distance record. With his good trackwork, he will be the horse to beat. Aerosa from Gate 7 would have to fight for a good place in the front. However, coming from the in-form stable of Manfred Man, I think he has a good place chance. Happy Yeah Yeah was very impressive in his victory in the same course and distance last start, but he’s drawn Gate 10 and I think he has the chance to bid for a top-three finish at interesting odds. Perfect Fit gets back to Class 3 event this time and I think he has the ability to produce a close finish, too.
The Bowrington Handicap as the last race of the day is a Class 3 mile event with an extended rating band of 85 to 60, giving horses with ratings between 81 and 85 the chance to avoid real Class 2 horses in this race. There are five horses who have taken this option in this occasion. The pace is expected to be slow which should favour horses in the front of the field, but this race has no definite leader. The Wand is the most likely leader and Elegance Klammer may just sit off the pace, with My Home Town, King Al Akbar and Best City in good positions. The good four-year-olds Elegance Klammer and Best City are the most interesting horses in the field but both have not raced or trailled in HV, which is a handicap but one cannot ignore them at least for a place, especially Best City with his good form to the exciting prospect Fay Fay. My Home Town and Euro Swiftly are interesting competitors who both have proven track and distance record, especially My Home Town with Tye Angland on board could surprise as an outsider.
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