It comes as no surprise that horsemen are animal lovers and I know that many Hong Kong trainers and jockeys, whether locals or expats, are dog lovers and owners. For instance Zac Purton owns a pair of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and Matthew Chadwick has a Poodle and a mongrel. Our champion jockey Douglas Whyte and last season’s champion apprentice Ben So each own a pint-sized dog, while Vincent Ho is another who enjoys the company of a mongrel.
If you were ever to find yourselves in the racecourse on non-race days, especially just after trackwork, it would not be very difficult for you to spot a jockey or a trainer taking their dogs for a walk near the racecourse, or even heading into the Penfold Park area to exercise their pets in the peaceful environment, which has a great lawn area.
Penfold Park is the venue that represents our city’s Olympic legacy and is a landmark for local equestrian sport. In recent years we have added new amenities to broaden the usage of this venue, including the set up of an outdoor horse walking trail that offers an alternative, more relaxed way for our racehorses in training at Sha Tin to undertake light exercises and refresh themselves.
When there are no races at Sha Tin it has also become a major destination among local pet lovers. Many of them take their beloved pets there, especially the popular large grassed area, exercising them and generally having great fun. According to our figures the visitor number of Penfold Park reaches 15,000 per month. We are certainly pleased to see so many people, particularly families, enjoying the beauty and serenity of this open space environment, and that our racecourse facilities can be put to another public use, one that is popular and beneficial to the community during non-race days.
To share the message of animal care and love to the community, and promote this special equestrian venue to the general public, we will host the Penfold Paw Paw Hoof Hoof Carnival there this Saturday. With the support of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, as well as several major animal care societies and dog clubs in Hong Kong, we will host different animal and equine programmes at the event, including a dog walkathon along the pavement of the park. There will also be a dog performance and pony riding opportunities for all who participate at the event. Admission is free so if you have time during the Easter holidays, please bring along your pet and join us this weekend.
As for our racing customers, you can also enjoy an early Easter atmosphere during our race night at Happy Valley as we will host the Easter Comes to the Valley meeting, with festive decorations and various special themed events and activities. I hope those of you in attendance will enjoy a great time tonight.
For the eight races on the card, the Diamond Hill Handicap is a Class 2 with a rating band of 95 to 75 which enables some horses rated below 80 to compete against Class 2 horses over the distance of 1800m. Only Jolly Victor who has missed out on a start in the Derby – as the first standby starter – has taken this opportunity with his rating of 75. Having no regular leader in the race the pace is expected to be slow, which will give horses in the lead or being placed close to the pace a better chance. Racing Hero is expected to lead together with Enabling and Perfect Cheers. Real Generous and Jolly Victor should be well positioned with Beauty Touch sitting behind them. Fun Rider who works well and Familists will be further back, while Lucky Forever and Elegance Klammer will stay at the back of the field. Real Generous, who is working very well, is my first choice but will face strong oppositions from Perfect Cheers and Beauty Touch who is impressive in his track work. For other runners, I also fancy Jolly Victor to have a place chance as for carrying a light weight in this race.
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