Joao Moreira has made quite an impact since he came to Hong Kong in late October, and I’m sure many of you will have looked on in admiration at this past Wednesday’s Happy Valley race meeting as the talented Brazilian jockey continued his cracking form, riding four winners from his seven rides on the night. That gave him a total of seven winners over the past week, which I’m sure made his fans and supporters very happy – no doubt plenty will have got good returns too.
Good form is not something those football fans supporting Manchester United are seeing as much of as they have been used to. They would not have been in the same mood as Moreira fans after they saw their team crash out of the League Cup competition to Sunderland at the semi-final stage this week, missing the chance of a mouth-watering final clash with Manchester City at Wembley.
United’s performances have been rather patchy this season. They built up a nice winning sequence during the Christmas period, but entering the New Year their match results differed. These included the two losses they endured last week, first to Chelsea in the Premier League and then their aggregate defeat to Sunderland in the League Cup. I think the results must be putting pressure on manager David Moyes as it seems the Premiership title is beyond them, leaving the Champions League as the only trophy open to them, as they are already out of the FA Cup too. In the league, United are now 14 points behind the leaders Arsenal, so their chances of retaining their crown seem remote. Realistically, a top four finish appears to be their target and it looks like they will have a trophy-less season. As a football fan I enjoy seeing United in full flow, so I hope they can improve their play through the rest of the season.
Last weekend in Hong Kong we held a function in collaboration with United, at which we announced the research findings of the Jockey Club Youth Football Fitness Assessment. The data showed that youth football players of the same age group in the UK are of a higher fitness level than our youth players in Hong Kong. It is good that we have carried out this study as the findings have helped us to spot our young footballers’ merits and shortcomings. By creating a database, our local football coaches and training experts will now be able to design specific training programmes focusing on the areas that need improvement. I believe in the long term this will benefit the general development and playing standard of youth footballers in Hong Kong.
With that in mind, a famous English football legend who shot to fame at a very young age, and who played for United at the end of his career, will be joining our race meeting as a special guest tomorrow. I’m sure you’ve guessed that I am referring to Michael Owen. He will be in attendance as the Brand Ambassador of Kent & Curwen, our sponsor for the Centenary Sprint Cup day. Apart from becoming a football commentator after his retirement from football, Owen also devotes much of his time to his racing operation in England. He has built up an impressive facility at Manor House Stables which is a training centre in the north of England housing around 90 horses. The best horse he has bred is Brown Panther, which is partly owned by him and won a G2 in the UK before finishing 8th in the Melbourne Cup last year. We are glad to welcome him to our races and I’m sure he will enjoy the experience. If you are a fan of Owen it might be worth your while coming along as you may well see him on course.
Sunday’s feature race, the HKG1 Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup, marks the start of our Hong Kong Speed Series for the season. This year we have adjusted the prize money of the three races in the series, with the purse of this race and the second leg, the Chairman’s Sprint Prize, increased from HK$4.5 million to HK$6 million. The last leg, the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup, is up from HK$6 million to a new high of HK$8 million. I hope this will enhance the competitiveness of the series and hopefully the increased rewards will be an incentive to owners and trainers to import more high quality sprinters to Hong Kong.
This year’s Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup has attracted an elite field of 10 and will be run as Race 7 tomorrow. Brilliant speedster Amber Sky should have no problem taking the lead from Gate 6 with brilliant Moreira on board. Eagle Regiment has the worst possible draw with Gate 1 and may have to work early to go to the grandstand-side, which is usually the faster and firmer part of the 1000m straight course. The tempo should be good with Go Baby Go from Gate 10 can be well placed, with Bear Hero and Cerise Cherry behind him. Frederick Engels is not favourably drawn in Gate 2 and should run on late for a place chance. Go Baby Go is my first choice because he is working well and primed for this race. Amber Sky and Eagle Regiment are straight course specialists. They are both a place chance with Bear Hero coming back to his best will be the horse who can cause an upset.
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