Over the past few years, through our implementation of the Racecourse Master Plan we have carried out many renovation and refurbishment projects to improve our facilities at both Happy Valley and. Sha Tin. As well as new facilities for the racing public, some of the projects have also been undertaken for the benefit of Club Members.
Our primary aim in refreshing these older venues was to create a high quality environment for our Members, including the younger ones, to further enhancing their racing experience. Facilities such as the new Members’ Betting Hall and the Loges and Members’ Coffee Shop plus the Owners' Cabin at Sha Tin, and the Winning Post, and Young Members Box in the Pavilion Stand at Happy Valley, are some of the newly-launched venues within the past two seasons. They have all been well received and I’m pleased to seeing them earning high praise and significant popularity with our members and patrons.
As a result of these concerted efforts to cater to the different needs of Members, it is gratifying that we have received record levels of patronage from Members this season, both at racing events at the clubhouses. This is a highly encouraging trend and it inspires us to do even more. Building on the efforts of the past few years, we will continue our renovation and refurbishment of other racecourses facilities for both Members and the public. You will be able to learn more about our plans when we unveil details of the latest developments before the start of next season.
It’s pleasing that Members have given their usual great support to us over the course of this season. At our Sha Tin race meeting tomorrow, we will be hosting the annual Members’ Day fixture to show our thanks to this vital group who support us so loyally. We have arranged various offers for our Members to enhance their enjoyment of this special race meeting and I hope they will all have a great day.
Adding to the excitement, there will also be a huge Triple Trio jackpot rollover of HK$94 million available at tomorrow’s race meeting, with the estimated dividend for a single winning HK$10 bet reaching HK$140 million. It’s the largest Triple Trio jackpot for over a decade so I expect it will attract a huge amount of attention and participation from racing fans.
Among the 10 races on the card, I will also pay my attention to the Derby Restaurant & Bar Handicap, which is a Class 1 over 1000m. The pace is expected to be good to fast, as Go Baby Go, Ensemble and Bundle Of Joy all like to be near the lead and are likely to put pressure on each other up front. Bundle Of Love is capable of challenging the leaders but is more likely to sit just one off the pace with Peniaphobia. The outside rail is normally the place to be and therefore the well drawn Go Baby Go, Bundle Of Love and Exciting Dream can be handy. This is a very competitive race and Bundle Of Joy is working very well. He’s a good win and place chance as is Peniaphobia. Go Baby Go is a course and distance specialist and despite carrying 126 pounds after taking into account Dicky Lui’s claiming allowance, he’s at least a place chance here. So is Exciting Dream despite the fact that he is dropping back in trip to the minimum distance of 1000m.
Apart from our Sha Tin races, there has been some outstanding racing at Royal Ascot this week, too. During our overseas simulcast on Tuesday we watched Sole Power become the first horse in 80 years to win back-to-back renewals of the King’s Stand Stakes. Tonight his stablemate Slade Power will compete in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes, the final G1 event of this year’s Royal Ascot meeting. I will watch with interest to see if this horse can complete a famous G1 sprint double for the same owner this evening.
Of course, the World Cup is ongoing, and it was a shock for us to see defending champions Spain crash out of the competition after playing only two group matches. So did for another popular team England who are eliminated after suffering successive defeats. My team Germany will play against Ghana tonight and if they are able to repeat their dominant performance against Portugal last time, I’m confident they can get a good result.
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