Over the weekend severe typhoon Usagi affected Hong Kong. It’s fortunate that the heart of the storm just skirted away to the northeast of us and the damage it caused to our city was not as severe as anticipated. We had been in close communication with the weather experts over the weekend and on Sunday morning I went to Sha Tin racecourse myself to meet with the team there and talk to various trainers and jockeys.
The safety of horses, jockeys, the public and our own staff is always our top priority. Given the situation with the forecast typhoon on Sunday being a storm of notable severity, we made the decision to abandon the Sha Tin race meeting early that morning and immediately disseminated the information to the public via different channels. Of course, there would have been a sense of disappointment among some people who were planning to attend our races that day, but I know that most people understood the rationale behind the decision, as did a majority of horsemen and the media. We are planning a replacement fixture on 30 October, subjecting to the government’s approval.
Actually, as the typhoon approached, our Tracks Department colleagues had taken measures such as removing all rails and other objects on track as prevention. And after the signal no. 8 is lowered on Monday morning, and the condition of the track being safe, they conducted thorough checks on the track, repair and carry out touch-ups on those slightly damaged objects and facilities in the storm, and mounting the rails back. All these work help ensure the track condition is safe and ready again for horse training and races. We are thankful that apart from the tracks, our various facilities at both racecourses did not suffer any significant damage, so there will be no impact at all on forthcoming race meetings.
While we were all sheltering from the storm on Sunday night, a different kind of storm was raging in Manchester, as United and City took faced each other for the first time this season in the Premier League. Manchester United fans probably wished that their fixture had been abandoned like ours, after their team lost 4-1! It was a sloppy defensive performance and a real blow this early in the season to the defending champions. United face another tough challenge against Liverpool in the League Cup competition tonight and it will be interesting to see whether they can bounce back quickly from Sunday’s loss.
And those racing fans who follow our racing news will know that we have issued a Club Jockey license to Singapore’s champion jockey Joao Moreira that lasts until the conclusion of current season. Joao has been linked to Ambitious Dragon and is set to be the regular rider of our former Horse of the Year, after Zac Purton, who rode the horse last season, decided to opt for Military Attack this season.
We always endeavour to strengthen our jockeys’ line-up and the strong credential of Moreira certainly meets our goal to attract top-class riders. He’s in sizzling form in Singapore and has already ridden more than 160 this term. His tally is almost double that of Manoel Nunes who is now in second place in Singapore’s premiership. Moreira rode twice in Hong Kong last season. You will no doubt recall that he won the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship in December and he also rode at the season finale meeting in July. He notched wins on both visits and I’m sure many of you will be looking forward to seeing how he performs when he arrives in Hong Kong in mid-October.
Tonight the focus is back on Happy Valley, with another Happy Wednesday Oktoberfest meeting. The famous traditional German band Die Notenhobler will be our guest performers tonight. They have become popular regulars in Hong Kong and will really add to the Oktoberfest atmosphere.
Tonight's feature will be the Triple Trio with a Jackpot of HK$25.9 million. The first leg is the Sheung Tak Handicap over 1800m and this Class 5 event is expected to be run in a good to slow pace. This should enable the likely race favourite Hollywood Kiss to take up an advantageous forward position. On his form as shown in his last run he will likely be the winner in this race. Dark Secret from midfield will be stepping up to his winning distance of 1800m, and will be Hollywood Kiss’s main opposition, but I see him more as a place chance.
The second leg of the Triple Trio is the Shun Lee Handicap which is a Class 4 over 1650m. At least five horses who usually race up front will compete for the lead, with Beauty King and Little Rainforest likely to be the fastest ones. The good pace should give all horses a fair chance to compete to their best. To be positioned just behind the leaders, Real General is my favourite and he will be with good win and place chance, with Lord Dragon coming from the back as a place chance.
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