During the summer, a number of our expatriate Club jockeys continue riding overseas, and it's not difficult for local racing fans to keep track of their progress, as the Hong Kong racing papers often carry results of their major races. This summer, though, things have been a bit different as one of our home-grown jockeys has also chosen to forgo the summer break and ride overseas.
As you've probably guessed already, I'm referring to Matthew Chadwick, who began a summer riding stint in the UK early last week. This is an entirely new environment for him, so I'm sure you will be pleased as I was to learn that he has already brought home two winners in his first week there.
Although neither of Matthew's winners so far have come in major races or carried high prize money, what to me is of greater importance is having the chance to ride on different type of racetracks in England, learn more about the British horse racing scene and get to know other jockeys there, as well as obtain wider exposure and more riding experience. I'm especially pleased to see Matthew's determination to improve and it’s nice to see him getting these encouraging results so quickly. Moreover he will soon have the chance to ride against several top international jockeys, as he has been invited to participate in the Shergar Cup at Ascot on 11 August.
For us at the Club, we're pleased to see Matthew performing so well and being recognised by racing connections in the UK, as it again reflects the success of our jockey training programme. I'll continue keeping a close eye on his latest results, as well as those of another home-grown rider, apprentice jockey Alvin Ng, who will participate in this year’s Asian Young Guns Challenge in Macau on Saturday. I hope both will do well and learn a lot from their opportunity to ride outside Hong Kong.
Just as in racing, systematic youth training is an important part of the personal development process for talented young footballers. The Club is very keen to help Hong Kong strengthen the standard of its youth football training, and this summer we've joined forces with the Manchester United Soccer School to sponsor a three-year programme called the Jockey Club Elite Youth Football Camp. This is the beginning of a long journey to strengthen the training of our young footballers, using best practices provided by a world-class team.
I watched the training sessions held at the Happy Valley artificial pitches from my office window from time to time over the past two weeks and I was impressed with how hard the young players all worked, braving the heat and rain.
The initial two-week training camp concluded last Friday and the two most promising participants out of the 64 who took part, 15-year-old Chan Pak-hei and 16-year-old Rico Chan, have now earned the chance to go to England in mid-August and receive further coaching at MUFC's academy training camp for one week. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these two young players and I'm sure they will both gain a huge amount from the experience.
It was especially good to have United legend Bryan Robson join us in Hong Kong for the graduation ceremony. During the ceremony, Bryan also shared his valuable experience with the young players and gave them his encouragement.
Some of Hong Kong's promising young talents were also on parade at the Hong Kong Stadium last Sunday afternoon, when local league champions Kitchee played a friendly against Arsenal for the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust Challenge Cup. The Challenge Cup was created this year to commemorate the partnership between the Club and Kitchee as we help them build the Jockey Club Kitchee Centre, the first facility specifically designed for youth football training in Hong Kong. This is another example of our contribution to the development of local football, covering both hardware and software.
I was there to watch this exciting match and thought the Kitchee side played really well. They twice took the lead and I was much impressed with the Barcelona playing style that Kitchee have instilled in their players. It was much to Kitchee’s credit that Arsenal had to bring out the big guns in the later stages of the match to secure the 2-2 draw! . For Arsenal, I thought Gervinho played well and is worth to pay special attention at the start of new Premier League season.
I'm sure most of the around 40,000 spectators at the stadium will have gone home delighted with both teams' performances! The atmosphere at the Hong Kong Stadium that day was amazing, and Arsenal’s management was very complimentary about the Stadium that the Hong Kong Jockey Club helped rebuild some 18 years ago. Manager Arsene Wenger was full of positives about Hong Kong, and the team, I understand, is keen to come back to play here in the future. That must be good news for the city’s keen football fans!
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