Last month when I was in France, I attended the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) annual conference, at which we discussed the direction we should take to facilitate the easier movement of horses between countries. This would enable more of the world’s best horses to compete against one another more often. During these discussions, I re-iterated my idea of collaborating with the International Equestrian (FEI) to establish the International Horse Sports Confederation (IHSC).
Following the IFHA Executive Council’s ratification of that concept, the FEI also approved its formation at the FEI General Assembly held earlier this week. The heads of the two organisations, HRH Princess Haya of the FEI and Louis Romanet of the IFHA both signed the deal in Switzerland on Thursday, to formally mark the formation of equine sport’s latest international body.
As the Vice Chairman of the IFHA, I myself, as well as the Club’s Director of Racing Development and Secretary-General of the Asian Racing Federation Andrew Harding, also participated in the negotiation of this pioneering agreement. I’m delighted with this landmark move as it brings the two most important international organisations in the world of equine sport even closer. An important mission for this new organisation is to maintain a close liaison with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) to facilitate the international movement of horses. I think this will benefit the sustainability and development of all equine sports, including horse racing, and anything that promotes more competition is good for the health of those sports and, of course, for the huge number of fans that support them around the world. The IHSC will also work hard in areas such as horse welfare and doping control, ensuring fairness in equine sports for all participants and spectators. It’s an exciting development that marks a new era and I look forward to seeing the benefits of the formation of the IHSC in the future.
Speaking of assisting development, I must give thanks to our commercial partners who enthusiastically support racing here in Hong Kong and play their part in driving the sport’s popularity in the city. Here at the Jockey Club, we are pleased to have so many commercial partners and sponsors who offer their generous support to Hong Kong racing and it has been good to advance together over the years.
The Mong family of the Shun Hing Group, the sponsor of our Panasonic Cup day at Sha Tin today, is a great example of such collaboration. They are currently Hong Kong’s longest serving race sponsor and today marks the 30th running of the Panasonic Cup. It’s great to have their staunch support and I hope we will have 30 more runnings of the race in the decades to come.
This year’s Panasonic Cup is a Class 1 1400m race, with 14 horses contesting the prize. Real Supreme should take the lead and the tempo should be slow as no other horse would apply early pressure to him. Sea Diamond, Solar Great, Wah May Star, Rumba King and possibly Flash Knight can be well placed. The slow pace normally favours horses in the front of the field but in Race 8 this benefit could be not as strong due to the track near the rail are heavily used and as a result not as fast as other parts of the track.
Solar Great is working very well and has improved from his first start of the season and is one of the win and place chances. Flagship Shine is working very well too and still has more potential in my view, but he has to overcome his tough gate 13. He is still one of my win and place chance for me. Majestic Falcon shows good form in training and should have a place chance. An interesting newcomer is Vanilla who is a top-flight Australian import with five wins including two Group races over 2000m and can surprise for a place even not being fully wound up. Flash Knight returning from a long injury break is another interesting performer who can surprise.
By the way, our Champion Sprinter Lucky Nine will make his second G1 appearance in Australia in the VRC Sprint Classic at Flemington Racecourse, at noontime in Hong Kong. Two weeks ago, he was gallant in defeat in his seasonal debut in the Manikato Stakes. I hope he will go one better today and please follow our live simulcast coverage to catch up this top sprinter’s performance at then.
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