As a Club, we are always proud of the quality and standard of our races, and we have every right to be with Hong Kong racing standing firmly among the top level internationally. At the same time we also endeavour to help develop world class sporting standards within Hong Kong beyond our racing platform. One of those is football, which enjoys a similar status to horseracing as it has long been one of the most popular sports in the territory.
Last month we announced a donation of HK$5.55 million from our Charities Trust to the Hong Kong Football Association to sponsor the Jockey Club Youth Football Development Programme for the coming three years, providing children and youngsters the chance to receive systematic football training. Yesterday marked another step in the Club’s commitment to youth football development, and a new milestone for Hong Kong football, as we pledged a further donation of HK$11 million to collaborate, for the next three years, with Manchester United Football Club in launching a new programme entitled the Jockey Club Elite Youth Football Camp.
Some 64 elite youth players, from either the district level or from first division clubs, will have the chance to receive United’s style of training in a two-week camp here in Hong Kong hosted by coaches from the Manchester United Soccer School, with the two best-performing young players receiving the once-in-a-lifetime chance to go to the UK and train at United’s academy training camp for one week.
I think it’s a very special programme we have going on here, engaging two great, world-class brands and organisations – Manchester United and The Hong Kong Jockey Club – in a pioneering partnership. This exciting initiative will give some of our elite young players the unique chance to train the Red Devils’ way. By doing so, we hope to give our elite youth footballers the chance to broaden their vision and inspire them to reach their peak potential through the experience of training under such a professional and international outfit. Such exposure to elite coaching will enable them to raise their games and shape up their skills and we believe this programme directly benefits Hong Kong’s football community as a whole.
I can tell you all that the Club is as keen as ever to support local football development. Apart from what I may term the software side, like this training programme, we will also be pleased to support and set aside a significant amount of resources to what might be described as the hardware side, such as the football academy project, should the opportunity arise.
But we are always of the view that there should be someone with great expertise taking the leading role in this area. The local football governing body, the Hong Kong Football Association, is certainly the obvious choice. While a football academy project could involve a donation amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars from the Club, we hope a solid plan, which outlines details of the programme – such as those facilities to be included in the academy, the ways it will be operated and managed, as well as the kind of youth development programmes to be implemented – could be in place before the plan proceeds.
In fact, we have made pleasing progress in our discussions with the HKFA in the past few months, but the recent change in the FA’s CEO could cause delays to the related work. The Club has done a significant amount of work hopefully the FA could sort out this situation soonest and be in a position to move forward with the key planning work on the football academy project.
Yesterday, I was also pleased to have the chance to meet United’s legendary player Dwight Yorke, who also joined us for the press conference as an ambassador for United. As most football fans would know, this former Trinidad and Tobago international was one of the squad members who won the famous treble for United, winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup in 1999. And for sure he was most renowned for his formidable striking partnership alongside England international Andy Cole at United. Earlier this month, the pair reunited in Spain, as both of them played a charity match featuring United legends against Real Madrid’s legends at the Bernabeu.
It was nice to have the chance to chat with Dwight yesterday and I must say he’s a really nice fella. He’s also delighted to be here in Hong Kong again, as he visited before when he was a player with United back in the 1990s. He showed an immense interest in learning more about our racing business and operation, as well as our massive contributions to local football, sports development, and to the wider Hong Kong community. I was also pleased to see that Dwight offered some valuable ideas and guidance to a few talented young players who attended our event yesterday. I’m sure all of them will have felt motivated by what Dwight said, and also privileged to have the chance to learn something from this world-class footballer.
I trust Dwight really enjoyed his time in Hong Kong on this visit. I’m hoping next time he will be able to stay in town longer so that he can come to the races and enjoy the spectacular atmosphere at Sha Tin or Happy Valley. Tonight at the Valley we have again arranged eight exciting races. In the Ta Kung Pao 110th Anniversary Cup (Handicap), the pace in this Class 3 1650m event is expected to be good which gives all participants a fair chance. Jimson The Best consistently races on the pace and despite his wide draw, he should be able to cross and take the lead. Snitzel Kid will probably follow him across from Gate 12 and Heart Wood from Gate 1 should get an ideal position in the box seat behind the leaders. Heart Wood is working well and he can handle a softer surface. He will be one of my picks and he will be a good win and place chance in case we get some rain tonight. Snitzel Kid is an interesting outsider which I give a chance to be in the top-three. Xilai Xianzi has not won a race in Hong Kong yet. He should be positioned behind midfield and is another chance runner in the race. To make my selection complete, I expect a good performance from Noble Deluxe, who is a three-time course and distance winner. He should be well positioned in the running and has a good finishing speed.
For the Euro, the match between co-hosts Poland and Russia last night was highly entertaining. Both sides delivered top-level performances, despite having to settle for a 1-1 draw. I’m especially looking forward to watching tonight’s game between Holland and Germany. This match is crucial for the Oranje as if they don't win tonight, their chances of qualifying for the next round will be rather slim.
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