We had a great start to 2014 this past Wednesday when more than 71,000 racegoers turned out to enjoy an exciting day of racing at both racecourses on New Year’s Day. That was the highest attendance figure for our New Year’s Day meeting in recent years and I’m delighted by that.
Our horsemen were all seeking their first win of 2014, and it was Douglas Whyte who hit the mark first among the jockeys as he took the opener on his way to a treble on the day. But Brett Prebble enjoyed the best start of the year as he rode four New Year’s Day winners. Not only was that his first four-timer in almost three years, but the quartet also helped him return to the top 10 in the jockeys’ standing. John Moore also made a sound start in 2014 as he saddled three winners in the last four races of the day, including Sterling City’s win in the feature race, the HKG3 Chinese Club Challenge Cup. That was John’s first win in the race for 24 years, while Douglas, who rode the gelding, was unusually notching a first victory in one of our feature races.
I’m sure most of you have been having great fun during the festivities of the past few days, as it’s a great time to celebrate the past year and look forward to what the new year might bring. But part of my thoughts have been with one of the world’s most recognisable German sportsmen, the Formula One hero and multiple world champion Michael Schumacher, who had a bad accident on the ski slopes in France. As I write he is in intensive care with a serious head injury. I believe millions of car racing fans the world over will pray for Schumi. Fingers crossed that he can pull through and make a good recovery.
For many sports fans, the focus during the Christmas and New Year holidays rests firmly on the English Premier League. I discovered an interesting fact that in the past four seasons the team at the top of the league at Christmas have gone on to win the title. But it seems to me that it will be a great challenge this season for Liverpool to maintain that trend. They led on Christmas Day by goal difference over Arsenal, but they then suffered back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea before bouncing back with their victory against Hull City on New Year’s Day. Now they are six points off the pace and will be looking to make up the lost ground in their upcoming matches.
Among the top teams it was City who had a perfect record by winning all four of their important festive fixtures, while three London clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur all did well and racked up 10 points each. The winter transfer window is now open in the UK and any dealings could influence the title race. Chelsea has already snapped up a new attacking midfielder, and Arsenal are apparently in search of a striker to bolster their attacking forces.
Speaking of strikers, our racing and football fans may have the chance to see former England, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Liverpool striker Michael Owen in Hong Kong as he has a good chance to come attending the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup day at Sha Tin racecourse on 26 January. Owen has recently signed up as an ambassador for Kent & Curwen, but he is still closely involved with football as he is currently a football commentator and operates his own sports management company that nurtures and brings though young football talents and sporting stars. As I’ve mentioned on several occasions previously in my blog, he is also a fond enthusiast of horseracing and now operates his own stable that houses over 100 horses in the UK. We are pleased to hear about his possible plan to Hong Kong and the chance for him to see some of our top sprinters performing on home turf. I look forward to meeting him and I’m sure he will have a very enjoyable visit here.
Until then, it’s business as usual for us here as we look forward to some interesting sport in our 10 races at Sha Tin tomorrow. The Tak Ku Ling Handicap is the last and best race of the day. It’s a Class 2 event with an expanded rating band of 105 to 80 over the straight 1000m course. With regular leaders Dane Patrol, Ensemble and Beauty Sparkle probably sharing the lead, the pace should be good at least. Those runners who are drawn to start from outside gates should enjoy an advantage as it makes them easier to go to the outside rail. In this regard the draws should be beneficial to Beauty Sparkle and Ensemble. Charity Spirit, Straight Gold and London China Town will likely to go forward to cross to the outside rails, with Vital Flyer and Bear Hero to settle behind the leaders.
Ensemble is working well and with his good draw he will be my first choice in front of Straight Gold, who seems to be back to his best when running in Happy Valley in his last two starts. Beauty Sparkle has improved and may surprise. Together with Vital Flyer who is improving in his work both of them will be place chances here!
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