Wednesday at Happy Valley racecourse offered some entertaining contests for all racing fans to enjoy. Among them, the most fascinating was the Happy Valley Vase. As I said before the race, the fact that most runners in the field had posted decent performances in pattern races this season gave it the quality of a G2 contest. The race did not disappoint either, as it was very competitive and the winning performance of Rainbow Chic was visually impressive.
After angling out for a clear run, this Caspar Fownes-trained horse showed his strong kick in the home straight. It was only his second appearance at Happy Valley, and in his only previous start here last time he displayed a similar impressive turn of foot, except on that occasion he gave too much ground to the winner early in the race and had to settle for a third place finish. It appeared to me that this four-year-old, with his powerful acceleration, is not necessarily well-suited to the tight turns at the Valley and could develop into a decent pattern race performer if he keeps improving. While the strong dash of the younger winner was exciting, the six-year-old Pure Champion also delivered a very good performance to finish second under top-weight of 133 pounds. I’m always pleased to see races of this nature as they show the depth of talent we have among our horses in training in Hong Kong.
For any owner, it’s a joy to have good horses running in their colours and some of our owners are excitedly looking forward to importing more quality horses into Hong Kong. With a better economic climate and the ever-improving status of our racing, as well as the Club’s steps to upgrade facilities and services for our owners in recent seasons, we received good responses in this season’s horse ballot and that is encouraging. Equally pleasing is that among the successful applicants are the names of some young and first-time permit holders.
Various facilities and programmes targeting young adult racing customers, including members and owners, have been available at the racecourses in recent seasons. They have been well-received by this customer group and we are already seeing the benefits of these investments. Taking our Happy Wednesday-themed meeting as an instance, the number of customers at the Valley has been on the rise. Among this new wave of increasingly regular Wednesday racegoers there are a significant number of professionals and management executives. The number of female customers has increased too.
It’s nice to see more young professionals engage in and enjoy our sport, and to see those rising executives developing such an interest that they are even choosing to join the owners’ rank. This is an endorsement of the Club’s efforts. Their participation is important for us as they are the new blood our sport needs to ensure its sustained development.
Whether any of the horses imported by these owners will become the next Ambitious Dragon or Military Attack remains to be seen but that is a major part of the dream for any owner. Racing fans will have the opportunity to show their appreciation and support to their racing heroes in the annual voting for the Most Popular Horse and Jockey of the Year. This gives race fans the chance to share their views as to who are the best local horses, locally-based jockeys and the overseas racehorses they admire most in the current racing season. The polling commenced yesterday and all those who take part in the ballot have the chance to win fabulous prizes. So please, cast your votes in the next fortnight through the different channels available.
Apart from the polling, I’m sure many of you will be paying close attention to the fierce contest in the trainers’ premiership. After Wednesday night’s meeting, Dennis Yip still leads Tony Cruz by one win with Caspar Fownes and John Size a further three wins behind. But the margin is tight and any of them could overturn the entire situation if they land a double or treble. I notice that there are four races today in which runners from these four leading stables will square off with each other. Particularly, in the last two races their runners have shown good recent form. I’ll watch with interest to see how they fight it out in these events this afternoon.
And among the 10 races on the card, the last race of today's programme, the Tuen Mun Public Riding School Handicap, is a Class 2 over 1200m and it has attracted a quality field. Bullish Friend from Gate 7 will probably lead again and may be joined by Fionn's Treasure. The pace is likely to be slow, which would help horses in the front of the field, but the field should be stacked with most of the horses only 2 to 4 lengths behind the leaders. Able Speed should find a good position behind the speed with Green Zone, but Fat Choy Hong Kong is at risk of being kept wide. Rumba King and Victorius should be in midfield with the improving New Deerfield behind them. Keen Wongchoy is likely coming from back of the field.
Bullish Friend is working well and his return to 1200m is, at this stage of his career, likely better for him. He is a good win and place chance in this race, and the same applies to Able Speed which should benefit from a good position in the race. New Deerfield has improved significantly after his gelding operation and will need a little bit of luck to get a clear run, especially because the race is run at the B+2 Course where horses can be running very tight into the straight. But he’s on form and I would not leave him out. Keen Wongchoy is a strong finisher and with his light weight of 117 pounds he will be with win and place chance too!
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