With the international racing week having ended, I took the opportunity to catch up with recent football news. One point of interest that caught my eye was about FIFA Player of the Year Lionel Messi, who with his last weekend brace has increased his scoring tally to 86 goals in this calendar year, surpassing the previous record of 85 goals achieved by Der Bomber, Germany’s and Bayern Munich’s legendary striker Gerd Mueller, back in 1972. He further extended his tally to 88 after scoring a brace in the Copa del Rey match in the midweek.
Among the usual debate at such times, some have pointed out that 1972 was the year when Muellar won the Euro Championship for Germany, but Messi still failed to win any major international trophy for Argentina up until this moment. Having said that, I think it’s impossible to deny that Messi’s amazing achievement, especially in the context of modern football with its increased physicality, pace and professionalism. It would be extremely difficult for any Sunday league player to score so many goals in a year and Messi is plying his trade in one of the top leagues in Europe, and is able to maintain his sizzling form consistently throughout the year.
If the chance came for Messi to exhibit his sublime skills in Hong Kong, I’m sure it would definitely create a frenzy among local football fans. They will need to keep their fingers crossed and wait in hope for that day to come, but in the meantime fans will have the opportunity to see Premier League football stars in action sooner than later. According to reports in the media, the English Premier League organisers are considering a return for the EPL Asia Trophy tournament in Hong Kong next summer, which will see teams including Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland playing in Hong Kong Stadium – the venue which had its 1990s renovations funded by the Club.
The Club has played an active role in sponsoring different local football development programmes over the past year, and so I’m delighted to hear such news. Should it prove to be the case, it will be the third time for Hong Kong to host this popular biennial tournament. The opportunity for local players to face Premier League teams in a pre-season tournament will undoubtedly benefit their own careers and help advance local football development.
We have a similar view to developing home talent in racing and this is clear in our apprentice jockeys programme. We always believe that only by gaining experience against overseas riders and by competing at the international level, can our young home-grown jockeys further develop and advance to new levels. That being the case, it was particularly pleasing to see our home-grown talent Matthew Chadwick score back-to-back successes in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup on Sunday. I knew that a number of racing commentators in both printed and electronic media praised his performance and also the Club’s dedication and effort in the training of local top jockeys. Matthew’s experiences when the Club sent him to ride in Australia a few years back and his progress here in Hong Kong, not to mention his successful spell in England during the summer, prove the Club’s apprentice development programmes a success.
After Matthew’s victory in the HK Cup on Sunday, we saw our home-grown jockeys win five of the eight races on Wednesday’s Happy Valley card, which again reminded us how competitive our young local jockeys are in HK racing. I’m especially delighted to see Keith Yeung making a winning return at his second meeting back after an ankle injury that forced him to the sidelines for a couple of months. It’s never easy for a jockey to get back to full form shortly after such a spell on the sidelines, but Keith has done a good job. I hope he will do better and better, and have more success through the rest of the season.
Hopefully our home-grown riders can maintain this nice form in the 11 races at Sha Tin tomorrow. In tomorrow’s feature race the Griffin Trophy, it is run as Race 3 for three-year-olds with penalties given on top of the base weight of 116 pounds for colts and geldings. The pace is expected to be slow with Dragon Keeper leading at a slow pace, with Happy Era and Bullish Boy being forward, Goldland Dancer and Festino Animosus behind them. Happy Era has to give away 10 pounds, carrying 131 pounds with Goldland Dancer who is working very well carrying 121 pounds. These two horses should dominate the outcome. With Happy Era being in great form and staying at the distance of 1400m, he is for me the horse to beat. Fabulous November steps up in distance and is for me a place chance.
The Chek Keng Handicap is run as Race 10 on the All Weather track as a Class 2 over 1200m. The pace is expected to be good to fast and horses on the pace have a slight advantage. Horse Galore out of Gate 8 will try taking the lead and Happy Index from Gate 11 has to push to get to the front. King Mossman and Fat Choy Hong Kong should find a good position in the front of the field, with Masquerader and Amigo well positioned in midfield. Amigo and Masquerader are both in good form and are win and place chances in this race. Cosmic Boom, who is working very well but needs a little bit of luck in his All Weather debut, but he will be an interesting alternative in this race.
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