It’s almost a week since we all enjoyed the great sport at our LONGINES Hong Kong International Races and in the days since I am pleased to have seen that various news agencies, papers and major websites have carried extensive coverage of our flagship event. Some of our international guests have also sent in emails and letters to me after returning home, to express how much they enjoyed the race meeting and their time in Hong Kong.
After two weeks of focusing so closely on our international racing action I have been able to get back to my routine work and had time to catch up on the top football news particularly from Germany.
During the busy bustle last week I managed to follow briefly the World Cup draw. I would say it’s a tough one for Germany as they are drawn in a group alongside Portugal, Ghana and the USA. It goes without saying that Portugal will be a strong team as they are led by the brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo, favourite to take the Ballon d’Or this year, but Ghana and the USA are both quality teams and no pushovers. While I’m quietly confident about Germany’s chance, I think they will need to take no chances and perform from the very first whistle to avoid a slip-up at the group stage.
The World Cup in Brazil is still half a year away so we will have to wait until the summer before we know how they get on, but in the meantime the four German sides contesting this year’s Uefa Champions League have had something to cheer about already. All progressed to the knock-out stage earlier this week, making a small chapter of history in German football as Germany has never before had four teams make it through. The great achievement of defending champions Bayern Munich, Schalke, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, reflects that the Bundesliga is in very good shape right now.
But I can tell you they are not the only football teams from Germany who have produced decent performances lately, as my home team Borussia Moenchengladbach is one of the form teams in Europe at the moment. They have won all their last six league matches and are now in 4th position in the Bundesliga. Gladbach have turned their home ground into a fortress, with a perfect record of winning all eight league matches at home this season, a feat that is only on par with current Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich. Hopefully they can keep putting together good performances and consolidate their position as they approach the season’s mid-point.
Like Bayern and Gladbach, Manchester City is another top European team with a perfect home record. I think it is astonishing to know that they have scored 29 goals but just conceded twice in their seven matches played at home in the English Premier League, meaning on average they have scored over four goals in each game. But they face a great test tonight as current league leaders Arsenal oppose them this time. A win tonight will help City cut the gap between themselves and Arsenal to just three points, and that would put their race for the premiership very much back on track. I’m sure many of you sports fans out there, like me, will find time to put your feet up and enjoy watching this heavyweight match this evening.
It certainly won’t be easy for City to keep their average and score four against Arsenal tonight. Of course those of you who took note of events at Happy Valley on Wednesday will know that Joao Moreira gave a four-star performance with a quartet of wins on his first meeting back from a six-meeting suspension. That, however, came at the expense of current leading jockey Zac Purton as his rides finished second in all the four races that Moreira won. I’m sure many racing fans will be watching closely to see if Joao can extend his winning trend in our races at Sha Tin tomorrow, but I think you may still need to pay attention to Purton, as well as Tye Angland and Douglas Whyte. If you look at the recent form of the trio, I think they all have been pretty good and are definitely a match for the red-hot Joao.
The feature event today will be the DSFH 25th Listing Anniversary Cup when the Dah Sing Financial Group celebrates the 25th listing anniversary of Dah Sing Financial Holdings Limited with a Class 3 Cup race at a mile. The pace is expected to be good to slow and the final section of the race may likely be the fastest.
Todos Con Suerte returns to Sha Tin after two solid efforts at the Valley and will go forward from his good draw carrying the 133 pound top weight. He drops back in distance to a mile after four consecutive runs at 1800, but is considered a Derby hopeful as he seeks to move up a grade with a good performance here. He is a solid place chance in his current form.
Griffindor, another Northern Hemisphere 3-year-old, showed noticeable improvement in his last run and looks to be nicely positioned midfield or closer. He is set to deliver a big effort in his second start of the season and is an each way chance for me.
Victory Hero will come from the back and showed improvement in his first try over the course and distance three weeks ago. D'or Wongchoy has turned things around recently and figures to get every chance with a box seat run. Both are place chances.
Boy Oh Boy has yet another change in equipment and steps up to the mile for the first time in his career, while Keen Tactics moves to Class 3 after two determined wins during the month of October.
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