A few racing columnists have praised the improvement shown by some of our home-grown jockeys who spent the summer working overseas. From what I have read, there is a consensus that Vincent Ho is the one who has shown most improvement. Not for the first time this season, Vincent was in the spotlight on Wednesday as he rode a trio of wins at the all-weather race meeting at Sha Tin that evening. He has already ridden an impressive total of 11 winners in the season’s first 10 race meetings to rank third in our jockeys’ standing, just behind Joao Moreira and Zac Purton. I know many fans will be cheering him on as he bids to maintain his positive run of form. Let’s see if he can maintain his winning momentum and earn a place in the LONGINES International Jockeys’ Championship on 10 December.
In midweek we also announced that two familiar faces will return to ride in Hong Kong in the coming months. One is Italian jockey Umberto Rispoli. Umberto has already earned top-class success in Hong Kong with Japanese runner Rulership in the G1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup in 2012. Last year he also did pretty well, as he rode 10 winners in about 10 weeks from November 2013 to January 2014. Another top European jockey who will be riding here this winter is Frenchman Maxime Guyon. Many of you will recall his partnership with former Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon, with whom he wonthe Hong Kong Classic Cup and Hong Kong Derby in 2011. Maxime did well in Europe this year as he won a couple of G1s there this season, including a Classic win on Miss France in the English 1,000 Guineas.
In fact he’s been prominent in the racing news pages this week as it was also announced that he will become the retained rider for the Wertheimer brothers, after agreeing four-year deal that begins in 2015. The Wertheimer brothers, whose blue and white silks are world famous, have raced many good horses down the years, mainly out of France. I’m sure you are all familiar with several of them, particularly the triple Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Goldikova and the 2012 Arc winner Solemia. This marks a new milestone for Maxime’s riding career as it will provide plenty of opportunities to ride some top-class horses in the next few years.
Before we eagerly anticipating Umberto and Maxime to ride here in the near future, tomorrow is in fact a special day for me and many racing fans as it marks the first meeting of the season at Happy Valley after a relatively long summer break due to the underground stormwater storage project. To prepare for the races tomorrow at Happy Valley, in the past fortnight, our colleagues have liaised with relevant departments and closely monitored the public transport and traffic situation in the Happy Valley area. We are confident that the meeting is manageable and we will continue to monitor the situation tomorrow morning. It will be good if those of you who want to come and enjoy the races can take note of the traffic situation and check media announcements before making your way to the racecourse.
It will definitely be worth making the trip. Not only is our city track’s racing a unique event offering thrilling sport, but also some of our new racecourse venues including the Leading Edge which has been refurbished, another Win’s Cafe at Happy Valley, and the upgraded Stable Bend Terrace, will come into service on the day. We hope all those who visit these new venues tomorrow will like them and enjoy their time in the race course.
The return of racing in Happy Valley has attracted an attractive field in the last race of the day, the Amber Handicap, which is run as a Class 2 over 1200m. The pace should be good with Gorgeous Debut leading again, with Peniaphobia joining him by working early and pushing forward to overcome his wide draw. The good pace should ensure a level playing field for all runners. Imperial Champion can take the box seat while Tour De Force, Best Eleven and probably Exciting Dream can be well placed. Exciting Dream last run was good and he is working well. He has a proven form in Happy Valley and is my first choice with Tour De Force. Tour De Force was disappointing in his last run. But he is working well and is a proven Valley performer too. Peniaphobia is working very well. He has won in Happy Valley and should have a place chance.
By the way, I believe some of you will have just watched our overseas simulcast from Australia. If you did you will have seen Purton winning the Caulfield Cup atop Japanese raider Admire Rakti. With his diligence and hardwork, Zac won his first Champion Jockey title in Hong Kong last season. He was as outstanding when he flied back to Australia to participate in some major races during weekends. His victory today has become his third G1 win in Australia this year and I feel very happy for him.
There are more great overseas races on offer tonight as we will bring you five races from the British Champions Day at Ascot, with top horses such as veteran runner Cirrus des Aigles, and two top-class three-year-olds Night Of Thunder and Charm Spirit, participating in the races this evening. I’m sure the contests will be fascinating and should not be missed.
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