Having returned to Hong Kong after attending the World's Best Racehorse Award ceremony in London on Wednesday, I will be out of Hong Kong again, in fact, having left for India for the 36th Asian Racing Conference to be held in Mumbai next week.
Nonetheless, between my trips, I made sure to attend the Jockey Club Make a Difference (MaD) Forum on Friday. Each year MaD brings together hundreds of young people from across Asia to discuss social issues, with the aim of identifying new and innovative solutions. It's incredibly inspiring to meet such thoughtful, creative and enthusiastic young people. In fact the MaD Forum has been so successful that in 2012 the Club set up the Jockey Club MaD School to provide a more systematic platform for encouraging innovation among young people. One particularly inspiring participant is Yuen Mei-po, who has established her own Open Art Studio - bringing free art classes to grass-roots residents across Hong Kong. Let's hope more young people will follow in her footsteps and serve the community.
As for our week to come, the Asian Racing Conference, inaugurated in Japan in 1960, gave members of the Asian Racing Federation and racing executives and administrators from around the world, a common platform to meet together, to share and exchange their latest racing ideas and innovations about racing, and to delineate strategies that will shape our sport's future. The last conference was held in Hong Kong about two years ago, with a record total of 800 racing delegates from around the world attending 15 different panel sessions arranged for the four-day conference. We were pleased with the fantastic response from the global assembly of delegates and the huge support as given by all participants on that occasion.
My duties as the Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation require me to be there in Mumbai a bit early before our sessions begin on Monday. But first we will enjoy a day of great hospitality at the races at Mahalaxmi Racecourse tomorrow, where coincidentally along with the ARC Trophy race they will also host the Indian Oaks.
When the main conference begins, we will float a few new ideas before the Asian Racing Federation Executive Committee to all presiding representatives and attendees. The items will be discussed at various industry gatherings in the future and I hope to share the results with you in the next few months.
Unfortunately, though, I will miss our very exciting Hong Kong Classic Mile card at Sha Tin racecourse tomorrow, but will be keeping an eye on all the action. It is a fascinating group of runners, including some established budding stars and some newcomers to Hong Kong racing. In general it has assembled an entertaining field of 14 with many different considerations.
As for the pace, it should be good to slow with Dashing Fellow and Lucky Bubbles expected to go forward early. King Genki showed a big reversal in his barrier trial last week when leading throughout at Happy Valley and should be prominent off that effort. Thewizardofoz will try to secure a good position with Joao Moreira aboard, while Ryan Moore will have his hands full from barrier 14 with Sun Jewellery. He should go forward, but might be struggling to find cover.
Blizzard has a good draw and should land a midpack spot with Basic Trilogy, Hero Look and Werther. Those towards the back should include Consort, Giovanni Canaletto, Rickfield, Green Dispatch and Divine Boy, wheeling back off last week's wide run.
The good to slow pace should make it tougher for horses to come from far back and lend an advantage to those with tactical speed. Thewizardofoz was incredibly impressive last time when defeating Blizzardand both looked as if they will enjoy the move to 1600m. For me, both are win and place chances, but I give a slight edge to Thewizardofoz. Blizzard will likely have a much better trip from gate three and could narrow the gap between the two horses.
Werther was very impressive on HKIR day and Hugh Bowman comes back to ride on this occasion. He is working well and is a strong placing chance, as is Sun Jewellery, of course, who just might have too much to overcome with the draw. Lucky Bubbles and Dashing Fellow could also be close at the finish if the pace is slower than expected.
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