Peak fitness is essential for peak performance in all sports. We see that in our racehorses and our jockeys here in Hong Kong where they have to be hard fit to make the grade in such a competitive environment. A glance on our website at the trackwork schedules for our horses here will give you some idea of the work required in training for a horse to reach and maintain the required fitness level, and I know jockeys like our Champion Jockey Zac Purton follow disciplined, strenuous exercise routines, too.
Trainers will often talk about the fitness of their horses and I know many of them will adapt different training methods over time to improve them and incorporate the latest science and methodology. I remember earlier this season Paul O’Sullivan mentioned that he had looked closely at the horses’ diets, routines and methods and made necessary changes. Paul had 23 winners last season and this season he already has 36, so those changes seem to be doing the trick for the horses in his care.
The same applies to football. In recent years, with better diet and improved science, fitness levels have increased in the professional game - and even at youth level - quickening the pace of the game and placing greater physical demands on the players. That’s why we have collaborated with Manchester United, the Hong Kong Football Association, the Chinese University and the Hong Kong Sports Institute in the JC Youth Football Fitness Assessment, which we launched two years ago. The assessment gauges the fitness levels of Hong Kong’s young footballers and the gathered data is then used to develop tailor-made fitness training programmes for them.
Over 530 young footballers have taken part in this ongoing study so far, with it providing an excellent database for us from which we are developing our young football talent in the city. I attended a press conference which unveiled its latest findings yesterday, and the study results revealed that the power, agility and endurance level of our young footballers have been inferior when compared to the same findings from those teenagers in the UK, with the lower training frequency in Hong Kong being the key factor contributing to such difference.
Despite that, I believe it is still a good thing as we can let local coaches knowing where we are and that they could set targets, and to design individualized training programmes for our youth footballers. Our experts recommended that a high intensity and efficient training regime would be helpful to try compensating and narrowing such difference in their abilities. We are hopeful that the recommendations can provide a new direction and draw much wider potential for improving the fitness of young our players.
On the subject of football, those of you who follow the sport closely will know that the four main football leagues in Europe are reaching their conclusions, with the champions of those leading leagues in Europe have mostly been decided. The winding down of the domestic leagues means of course that we are in the advanced stages of the Champions League. As many of you will know, the semi-final second leg matches were played this week. Last night Bayern Munich hosted Barca at home. The match was very entertaining and ended with the score at 3-2 Despite that the German champions still failed to overturn the first leg deficit of 3-0 as their lapses in the last 15 minutes of that match proved to be critical, leaving them with a mountain to climb in the tie that they failed to scale.
There will be another interesting clash in another semi-final tie tonight as Real Madrid will try to avenge their 2-1 first leg loss to Juventus in Turin last week. Madrid suffered a serious blow to their domestic league title hopes with their draw against Valencia last weekend so they will be desperate to avoid a second setback within a week in the Champions League. It will surely be a fiery encounter and I will try to stay up late to watch the match if possible.
Before that you may wish to first turn your attention to our races at Happy Valley tonight. It will have a European flavor too as it is the second of our Le French May themed race meetings.
For the eight races on the card, the third race is a Class 4 event at 1650 metres and is featured as the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (HK) Cup (Handicap). A moderate pace is expected with Unique Happiest, Great Toplight, Winning Apex and Twin Turbo expected to go forward. Unique Happiest has a unique record of having finished in the placings in each of his six races this year without the benefit of a victory. He has climbed seven points in the ratings during this consistent period and is a solid place chance again tonight in his second try over this course and distance. Twin Turbo, a last start winner, is also a place chance, having defeated Unique Happiest when they last met three weeks ago.
Foodie is a win and place chance after a strong closing sectional in his last run at Sha Tin and seems to have found his best form since arriving from England. The former sprinter is well suited over the mile distance and should be afforded every chance to earn his first ever Hong Kong victory. Rock The Tree returns to Happy Valley for the first time in three months and is a place chance in his current form.
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