In the past two days in Hong Kong, one of the prominent news stories was the government’s public consultation on population policy. An ageing population is a problem that is now affecting many developed countries and regions worldwide and that includes Hong Kong. The Club has been involved in looking at ways to address the issue in recent years, chiefly through our self-initiated programme CADENZA, which aims to pioneer new approaches to care for the elderly in the face of a rapidly ageing population.
Through our Charities Trust we have also sponsored different community projects and programmes primarily focused on services for the elderly. The latest one was The Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care in building the Jockey Club Home for Hospice in Sha Tin.
What makes this project special is that it will be the first of its kind in Hong Kong to provide essential care services for terminally ill patients within a home-like setting. The hospice has a peaceful designated garden and a multi-religion quiet room in which patients and their families can be together. Upon its completion in late 2015, half of the rooms in this residence will also be rented at a charge similar to the fee level of a public hospital, making the service affordable to those patients and families at lower income levels.
While the Club is offering staunch support to various community projects, similarly we need our customers’ support of our sport – after all, these charitable projects are only possible because of the continuing support of our customers. Tomorrow we offer our racing fans two top class contests in the Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy and the Premier Bowl. Horse of the Year Military Attack and two-time Hong Kong Cup winner California Memory will both make their seasonal debuts in the former race, while a handful of top class and proven sprinters such as Frederick Engels and Captain Sweet will square off in the latter contest.
The free entry stage for the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races on 8 December closed on Wednesday and all of the horses mentioned are sure to have been entered. Apart from these local hopefuls, some other big names and top overseas horses will also be on show at our flagship international race meeting. You can learn which horses when we unveil the list of entries for the four HKIR G1 events early next week.
For sure the two HKG2 races tomorrow will be of great importance. The races will be very competitive and act as useful sharpeners for horses ahead of upcoming assignments in the Jockey Club races in November, and the LONGINES HKIR the following month. So let’s see how they perform and what progress they will make following the races.
Another horse that will be aiming for glory in December is Lucky Nine. He won the Hong Kong Sprint in 2011, and, all being well, he will line up for that race again in six weeks, once he has returned from Australia. Before then he has another big assignment Down Under in the G1 Patinack Farm Classic at Flemington racecourse on 9 November, and confidence is high after he performed so well when finishing second in last night’s G1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley. He settled nicely early and showed a good turn of foot in the home straight, just failing to catch race winner Buffering in a photo finish. Let’s hope he can build on that excellent first run for 5 months and notch a second overseas G1 win next month to go with his success in Singapore back in May.
For tomorrow’s Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy, it’s run as a handicap for horses with rating of 100 and above over 1600m. It has.attracted a terrific field which included reigning Horse of the Year Military Attack, two-time Hong Kong Cup winner California Memory and last year’s BMW Hong Kong Derby winner Akeed Mofeed. The expected pace should be good, with Helene Spirit setting early pace as usual. Last season’s Champions Mile winner Dan Excel can either share the lead or taking the box seat inside Xtension. Military Attack, Real Specialist, Gold-Fun and Rainbow Chic can be well-placed, while Akeed Mofeed may position further back than usual.
Gold-Fun is working very well and with his first start of the season being so impressive, he’s the horse with a good chance. However, Rainbow Chic who has to carry only 113 pounds, as well as Helene Spirit who ran nicely when carrying top weight in the National Day Cup last time, will both be better value chances at this phase of the season. Although both Military Attack and California Memory will be having their first start respectively in the season, with their top-class qualities they could finish very well at the closing stage of the race.
Comment
