Although we are approaching the end of the season there is no winding down just yet as my schedule remains full. Last week I spent two days in South Korea and I can tell you it certainly wasn’t for shopping or sightseeing. I was there, invited by the Korea Racing Authority in my capacity as the Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation, to give a presentation with my colleagues Martin Purbrick, the Club’s Director of Security and Integrity, and Richard Cheung, our Executive Director, Customer and Marketing, on combating illegal betting at a symposium in their National Assembly which was opened by National legislators and attended by leading figures of the KRA, journalists and around 250 members of the public.
We explained what the Club has done over the past years in the area of combating illegal betting, including an in-depth analysis of the trend, its mode of operation and their target customers, while at the same time, new initiatives the Club has introduced to enhance our own competitiveness to enable us to fight against challenges from our competitors.
With technological advancements, illegal operators have now adopted more mobile and online technology, which has enabled illegal betting to become more flexible and boundless in its operation, and the issue a more globalised phenomenon. Such a problem is particularly serious in Asia as illegal betting operators in the region are now responsible for the major share of gross volume in the global illegal betting market.
In the Club’s perspectives, we are of the view that imposing restrictions on legitimate racing/wagering operators would mean weakening their competitiveness and restricting the options available in their fight against illegal gambling activities and illegal betting operations. Take technological advancement as an example, tight restrictions on legitimate and legal operators in using technology especially mobile and internet to connect to customers would in fact turn customers to the illegal market. This is indeed far from desirable.
As Chairman of the ARF, I am pleased that some of our Asian counterparts are eager to learn and understand more about Hong Kong’s experience, and the efforts we have made to combat illegal betting. During my stay in Korea, I also made a presentation to the Management Board of the KRA, and around 100 of their executives, about the Club’s journey and our way in development our sport to world-class racing.
I shared with them how we approached the challenge to revitalise our racing sport in Hong Kong, making it even more attractive to a wider audience. It’s achieved by adopting a more customer-centric focus, clear customer segmentation, as well as the substantial investments as we made in our facilities, technology and services. I also shared with them how we have structured our racing model here in Hong Kong, particularly in terms of the development of our world-class racing, and stressed the importance of developing the sports aspect of racing, which is at its heart. We had a similar discussion with industry representatives, especially for those who came from the Owners Association. And I can see that Korea is keen to develop its racing industry on similar lines as we did in Hong Kong, also on its breeding industry.
I see that we will develop stronger links with Korea to develop racing in the region in the future. As you can understand, combating illegal betting activities is a long term battle for all legal racing operators. Despite it being a test of grit, determination and resolution, we will stand firm and continue to make strong efforts in this area.
Turning our attention to racing, some of our top-class horses will also face a test of grit, and of course stamina, in our feature race at Sha Tin tomorrow. A total of eight runners will take part in the final G1 contest of the season, the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup. Those include defending champion Blazing Speed, who boasts winning form coming into the race this year with his major success in the APQEII Cup last month. It will be exciting to watch and see if he can bring his trainer Tony Cruz a win in this 2400m event for the third consecutive year.
Besides Hong Kong I will also pay attention to Japan tomorrow for another a mile and a half racing contest, the G1 Japanese Derby, which will be simulcast to Hong Kong during our Sha Tin meeting.
For the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup, it will be run as an International G1 race for the first time. Even it has not attracted any overseas runners this year, it still showcases the world-class quality of horses we have in Hong Kong at the moment. The pace of the race is expected to be good to slow, with Helene Happy Star leading as he did in his last race in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup, probably with Khaya and Same World to share the lead. Helene Super Star will be just off the pace, with Blazing Speed well positioned in midfield. Harbour Master may be eased a bit further back than usual due to the awkward draw, and Mr Gnocchi and Dominant to be staying at the back.
An even pace of the race will be helpful to Blazing Speed, who is working very well. He can win his second International G1 race this season after the APQEII Cup, and is my first choice here. Helene Happy Star is working very well too and will take some running down. Dominant looks well too and is for me a place chance as is Mr Gnocchi who changed stables 5 weeks ago to Tony Millard's yard and finished well in his last trial.
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