As ever, Sunday’s Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse Raceday at Sha Tin was a fantastic afternoon, with many racegoers dressing up brightly and elegantly for this special event. If you watched our live broadcast or read some of the racing papers, you will know that even trainer Sean Woods decided to join the fun by wearing a tiny pink-and-black hat to celebrate the victory of his stable runner Percy Jackson in Race 3.
I was even more thrilled, though, to see the emphatic performance of John Moore's Packing Whiz in the feature event, the HKG3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse. This horse was previously a winner of the G3 Italian 2000 Guineas and since being imported to Hong Kong last season, has already shown steadily growing potential with two wins last term and a recent first-up win this season. Once he found a gap in the pack on the home straight on Sunday, he quickly found an extra gear under Brett Prebble to storm home by an impressive length and three-quarters.
It looked a very effortless victory in the end, and I would agree with Moore’s comment that it is a Group 1 horse in the making. I think this rising star will certainly be another horse to consider alongside our established international runners in next month's lead-up events to the Longines Hong Kong International Races in December.
If you've been paying close attention to other local sports stories this past week, you will know that one of our home-grown sports stars has shone again at international level. I'm talking, of course, about our Olympic cycling heroine Sarah Lee Wai-sze, who won a gold medal in the sprint event at the World Cup track cycling championships currently taking place in Colombia.
You have to admire Sarah for her hard-working attitude, as she has been able to stay focused despite becoming something of a local celebrity since her Keirin bronze medal in the London Olympics, facing a steady stream of media interviews and public appearances. Her coach says her continued dedication and professionalism are the main reasons for her getting such a great result in Colombia.
Cycling has a number of things in common with horse racing, notably that different cyclists are better suited to sprints, middle-distance or long-distance races, and the careful timing of one's final spurt to the line is always critical. As in racing, there are big differences between cycling on different types of surface, ranging from steeply banked tracks to flat road races and mountain climbs.
Tonight, some of our racehorses will have a chance to show their credentials on a different surface as we shall be hosting the first of only three Wednesday night meetings at Sha Tin this season, with all of the races on our all-weather track. This will give our proven all-weather performers the opportunity to bring more delight to their connections, and other horses who have raced less often or never on this surface an occasion to show their versatility.
For the eight races on the card, the High West Handicap (1st section) is a Class 3 over 1200m. Green Zone and Lifeline Elite are expected to go forward to overcome their wide draws, together with Ever Beauty and Joyful Luck they should ensure a good pace early in the race. Bundle Of Love from Gate 1 should be well placed behind the pace and with his smart win last time out and very good trackwork recently, he’s my pick for the race. Green Zone is working well too. With him being sired by Elusive Quality, the all weather surface is to his liking and he will be a win and place chance for me. Jun Ju is well drawn and showed improvement in his last run. He and Flying Smart will both be interesting outsiders in this race.
Apart from racing, last night I also paid close attention on the football side as I watched Germany host Sweden for the World Cup Qualifier group match in Berlin. Similar to their 6-1 rout against Ireland in Dublin last Friday, Germany again made a sensational start early in the game as they were up by four goals in the first 55 minutes, but the Swedes never gave up and completed a dramatic comeback, equalising the score at 4-4 in the last minute of stoppage time, and stunning the German crowd in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. It was a shocking result and I have never seen a German team who played at true world class level leading by four goals and surrendering that advantage.
Last night, the Hong Kong team also played an international friendly match against Malaysia in Mong Kok Stadium. Originally I planned to attend the match and offer my support in person, but the long meetings yesterday made me unavailable to leave my office early for the match. It’s unfortunate to learn that the team lost 0-3. But I hope they can put this defeat behind them, and bounce back to get a better result in their next match.
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