I'm delighted that in recent years we've been able to attract some very prestigious commercial partners to Hong Kong horse racing, which shows that these companies are keen to be associated with the high quality of racing we offer here and the positive image of the sport.
These partners not only put substantial sponsorship money into the racedays they support, enabling us to maintain the prize money at an attractive level, but are also keen to work with us in arranging special promotions in the lead-up to the event and on the raceday itself. These all add to the enjoyment and excitement of the event for horse connections and racegoers alike. Moreover, they can help us attract new audiences to the sport.
For instance, for the Ladies’ Purse Day, which has a very long history, we and our sponsors Sa Sa have turned Sha Tin Racecourse into a wonderfully glamorous venue in recent years. We now attract a lot more female racegoers than before, as they love the chance to dress up elegantly for a raceday, watch fashion shows and try out different beauty products at various booths on course.
For next week's Champions Mile, and also the Hong Kong Derby, we are now partnered by prestigious car companies BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which have enabled us to arrange for the winning connections to parade on the turf in top-of-the-range convertibles. So that they can share their happy moments with racing fans and thank them for their support. This practice is welcomed by many on-course racing fans as well.
For the Audemars Piguet QE II Cup, one of the most interesting changes we've made with our sponsor's support is to stage the barrier draw ceremony in a major shopping mall. By holding the draw around noon time, during the lunch break of local offices, we can give the sponsor and the event more exposure and at the same time reach out to the public, thereby further promoting the sport of horse racing.
For this year's AP QEII Cup barrier draw ceremony on Thursday, we held the draw at the Elements shopping arcade above Kowloon Station for the first time. It attracted terrific interest, with many business executives, office ladies and even passing tourists stopping to enjoy the ceremony. Should our AP QEII Cup celebrity guest Louis Koo be able to join us, I'm sure it would have attracted even more excited fans! But they should not be too disappointed, as I can promise you that Louis will be at Sha Tin Racecourse to meet and greet racegoers for tomorrow's big race.
Meanwhile last night, we had the opportunity of not only entertaining this weekend's international visitors, but also showing them how the Club’s many contributions to the community are helping to preserve some of Hong Kong's most important heritage sites for the public's enjoyment. We held the AP QEII Cup Gala Party at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Former Explosives Magazine in Admiralty, where the Club earlier donated HK$102.5 million through its Charities Trust to the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre in assisting for its conservation and revitalisation.
A few hundred distinguished guests, including the connections of Sunday's local and international runners, joined us at the party for some fine dining, music and dancing performances. Most of them were impressed by the environment and settings of this historic former military site, and had a great evening there. It’s always good to have some relaxing moments together before they lock horns in battle at Sha Tin this weekend and I wish them all the very best of luck in the big race tomorrow.
Although we have only four overseas contenders this year, coming from Ireland, the UAE, France and Japan, I would say they are all of very high calibre. But we also have an exceptionally strong home team led by CXHK Cup winner California Memory and reigning Hong Kong Derby winner Fay Fay, as well as another young sensation Sweet Orange. I expect to see a rather open and very absorbing battle at Sha Tin tomorrow.
Going back over the last ten winners of the AP QEII Cup, it is interesting to see that Hong Kong horses and overseas horses have each accounted for five wins. This season's renewal reflects the competitiveness of this major Group 1 event as, again, it looks equal between the home and away horses. Rulership has a good chance to be the first horse to win for Japan since Eishin Preston took top honours in 2002 and 2003. He has a great Japanese pedigree that includes a Derby winning sire and his dam Air Groove was formerly Horse of the Year in Japan. He is a multiple Group 2 winner that has yet to win a Group 1, but he finished strong to be beaten less than two lengths in the Arima Kinen on Christmas Day. Most of his racing is at longer distances, but Rulership has won three of four at 2000m.
Treasure Beach comes in with strong credentials, having won the Irish Derby and just missing when second in the Epsom Derby, and it is good to see the Coolmore team and trainer Aidan O'Brien here for one of our premier races. Of the locals, I am most interested to see how our four-year-olds stack up as Sweet Orange has a good gate and Fay Fay can try to validate his win in the Derby. Thumbs Up and Irian are also in with a chance.
In the HK Group 2 Sprint Cup, Little Bridge is back to his best form now and seems to have an edge at equal weights off his 127 rating. Captain Sweet is coming back to his best and you must always respect a horse that has placed in 14 of his 16 races, including seven wins.
This being the 60th anniversary of the Queen's reign, we will feature the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Cup as Race 9, an interesting Class 2 at 1800m. Packing Whiz continues to show improvement since arriving from Italy and he will need to be at his best to defeat quality horses over this course and distance such as Dan Excel, Real Specialist and Wrath Of Fire.
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