More than 70,000 racegoers came to Sha Tin for our Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse day last Sunday. They were treated to a number of different on-course entertainments and activities, and also witnessed the emergence of a possible new star as Packing Llaregyb claimed the day’s feature event the HKG3 Sa Sa Ladies’ Purse, notching his first win at pattern level. With his four previous Hong Kong wins all gained by a margin of half a length or less, the horse once again showed his “fighting heart” to win. I look forward to seeing if he will continue to do enough to win when he faces even stronger opponents next time.
A horse with class, heart and the will to win always has the potential to make things happen, even when the conditions in any given race might not suit. The same applies to elite human athletes as those same attributes help them to excel in competitions. I’m sure most of you understand that every professional athlete has a hectic training and competition schedule, and that’s no different for our professional athletes in Hong Kong.
Despite those demands on their time, many of our local elite athletes volunteer some of their time to offer service in the community; connecting with and caring for others in our city. The annual “Together We Care” elderly visit as organised by the Hong Kong Elite Athletes Association is one of the most prominent volunteer events. This event is in its 10th year and this time more than 1,500 people participated in eight different districts. I felt so excited to join the Club's CARE volunteer team to visit some elderly singles and low income families in Sham Shui Po last Sunday morning.
Along with Hong Kong’s top squash player Annie Au and top windsurfer Hayley Chan, we visited two homes. One was a single-parent and her child, and the other an elderly man. We chatted with both families and learnt more about their daily lives, some of the difficulties they face, and coping with the high cost of living. The elderly gentleman, Uncle Kwok, is living on the 9th floor of a building with staircases but no elevator. A very sporty person like myself can handle that every day, but it will be taxing for a 70-year-old like Uncle Kwok and this forces him to stay at home, so he rarely goes out for a walk. This is tough for him, so I demonstrated a few easy exercises that he could do to help strengthen the power in his legs. Hopefully that will be helpful to him and enhance his mobility.
During the visit, Annie also told me that she was actually born and grown up in our staff quarters at Sha Tin racecourse, as her father was a stables assistant with the Club for many years. The Club has given massive donations and sponsorships to local sports development for decades, so I was thrilled to learn that we have helped nurture the personal development of this outstanding athlete.
Back to our horse racing, the Oktoberfest finale will be the highlight of our race meeting at Happy Valley tonight. So make sure you grab this final chance to come and enjoy the special Bavarian atmosphere on course. For the eight races on the card,
tonight’s sixth race is the Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup (Handicap), a Class 3 event at 1650m, with Regency King, Smart Ball and Ka Ying Kid expected to go forward and make the running. Regency King is a last start winner over the same class, course and distance, and will carry top weight of 133 pounds. But he’s in top form and is a solid place chance.
Good Choice is a good each way choice as he has run well in each of his three races after being gelded in June. He was unlucky last time when blocked in the straight and has drawn the inside gate tonight. I expect he will be afforded every opportunity from a midfield position.
Turbo Jewellery comes off an improved effort in this same race three weeks ago and looks to be rounding back to good form. He looks to be a good place chance in the race along with Starting Over and Amazingly, two horses that will do their best running over the concluding stages.
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