Just like the many racing fans watching on-course or through live broadcast, I was greatly concerned as I witnessed five jockeys fall during the unfortunate incident that occurred in the second race at Happy Valley last Wednesday. I was watching the action from the grandstand and as soon as the fall happened, my concern turned to the safety of all the affected jockeys. Instantly I went to see how they were and it was a huge relief to know that they were conscious when being sent to hospital and that no-one had suffered a life-threatening injury.
Howard Cheng and Vincent Ho needed to be sent to hospital for further examination where it was confirmed that Howard sustained a fracture to his left arm and suffered a rib injury. Vincent was found to have no significant injuries, while Eddy Lai needs more rest as he has developed soreness in his left foot. The remaining two riders, Douglas Whyte and Tye Angland, both came out unharmed.
This was a rare accident and our Racing Steward Panel will interview the related jockeys so as to further look at the matter later on. Such accidents are very rare and unfortunate, and everyone hopes that we will not have another similar incident in the future. I hope the jockeys will all recover quickly, and I especially wish Howard well in what we all hope is a speedy recovery.
With that unfortunate incident behind us, the Royal Ascot meeting is taking place in England this week and we already simulcast the first day of races to our race fans in Hong Kong on Tuesday. There have been a few popular winners at the meeting over the past few days. Victory for the filly Riposte in the G2 Ribblesdale Stakes for fillies and mares on Thursday was one of them. She was trained by the great Sir Henry Cecil until he sadly lost his battle against cancer and passed away last week, so in winning, Riposte gave Lady Cecil, the late trainer’s wife, and her stable team an emotional success at this difficult time.
Another pinnacle came in the G1 Gold Cup, Ascot’s historic centrepiece. Estimate raised the crowd with a battling win that means the Queen is the only reigning British monarch to see her colours carried to victory in the race, and she celebrated enthusiastically, which was great to see. In fact, it has been quite some time since the Queen last won a G1, so the Ascot crowd was especially happy to see her entering the winners’ enclosure.
Somewhat Hong Kong also had its presence in the Royal meeting, in Friday’s G1 Coronation Stakes as the winning filly Sky Lantern, also the winner of the 1000 Guineas last month, is owned by Hong Kong-based Ben Keswick, Managing Director of Jardine Matheson Holdings. His family has also supported Hong Kong racing for long as Ben’s cousin Adam is a member of Ewo Syndicate, whose owned horse Jamesina also won in a race at Sha Tin earlier this month.
For the final day of the Royal Ascot meeting tonight, the highlight will be the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes, which will be simulcast for our racing fans’ viewing is one of Europe’s top sprint races. Australian wonder mare Black Caviar became the latest overseas winner with her triumph last year. Sea Siren from Australia leads the overseas assault this time and it will be interesting to see whether it was her, or other British or Irish runners can lift the trophy this year.
Our simulcasts tonight feature sprinters and stayers with the Diamond Jubilee Stakes run over a straight 1,200m and later in the evening the Queen Alexandra Stakes, England’s longest flat race at 4,345m. In the Diamond Jubilee, Society Rock is a horse for the course having won this race in 2011 and finished second in 2010. Last year, Society Rock was two lengths behind Black Caviar when the Aussie sensation was fully extended to keep her unbeaten streak alive. He comes into tonight’s contest off a first-up win in a Group 2 at York and all indications point to another good performance over his preferred course. For me, he is only a place chance as I am concerned that his issues in the barrier and the quality of the competition will be too much to overcome. Soul, running in the Godolphin blue, makes his first appearance this year and is an each way value chance after showing potential to win at this level last season. Hawkeyethenoo comes into the race in improving form and is in with a place chance, as is Gordon Lord Byron.
Turning our attention to the Sunday 2:40 pm simulcast of the Takaruzuka Kinen at Hanshin Racecourse at 2200m, with the runners decided by a popular vote from the Japanese racing fans, the very good filly Gentildonna – the 2012 fillies’ Triple Crown winner and JRA Horse of the Year, must be respected off her impressive race record. She finished second in the Dubai Sheema Classic behind St Nicholas Abbey, but did not get the best of trips on that occasion, and she does get the benefit of a five pound weight allowance from her male opponents. The outsider in the race is Rosen Konig, a horse that makes his first appearance in a Group 1, but is in solid form and is a win and place chance. He runs in the same colours as Gentildonna, as does Fenomeno, which gives the black and red of powerful owner Sunday Racing a stranglehold on this race. Tosen Ra is a place chance, particularly at this distance, whilst the ever popular Gold Ship will gather a lot of support, as usual, but must rebound from a rare disappointing effort in the Tenno Sho Spring in April.
And at our Prince Jewellery & Watch Premier Cup day at Sha Tin we have arranged 11 races on the programme. With Eddy Lai being unavailable for the meeting, we have arranged for Tommy Berry’s twin brother Nathan to come to ride in Hong Kong for one day. He has six riding engagements and I’m sure many of you will be interested to see if he can make the same strong start in Hong Kong tomorrow as Tommy did two months ago.
As the first tropical cyclone of the year is now affecting Hong Kong, I believe you will also take the weather and track condition into consideration when you are studying the races. There are only six runners in the Prince Jewellery & Watch Premier Cup at 1,000m and California Bounty will be a short-priced favourite. The European import is perfect in his two races over this distance since coming to Hong Kong and is the likely leader in the race. The two likely to challenge are Windicator Star, which overcame a very slow start on Wednesday night at Happy Valley to fall only a length short in a 1200m Class 2, and Arrived Ahead, with both horses having won over the course and distance in the past. Tye Angland replaces Zac Purton on Windicator Star.
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