Gold-Fun made my 15-hour whirlwind trip to London last Sunday fully worthwhile, as he produced a terrific run in the G1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot. This Richard Gibson trainee looked composed and fantastic before the race and although he was a bit lazy after jumping from the gate, he travelled really well and showed the best turn-of-foot approaching the wire. I believe if he had a clear run a few strides earlier, he could have even won.
Factoring in all circumstances, I think it was a very credible run. The race winner Twilight Son is currently the best sprinter in the UK, and could be the best sprinter in Europe this year, so it was no disgrace to see Gold-Fun finish behind this strong opponent with such a tight margin. It was a great thrill and perfect experience for the connections too. Now we look forward to next year’s event and wonder in advance if we will see any additional Hong Kong horses competing at the Royal meeting.
I was straight back to the airport following the race and arrived at Sha Tin midway through the race meeting on Sunday. I missed Helene Paragon’s win in the Premier Plate, but I still managed to catch the victory of Sun Jewellery in the Premier Cup. Both four-year-olds have clearly signaled their intent to achieve more at top level next season. It’s always delightful to see these exciting horses progressing and ready to try further climb the ranks.
Today I was pleased to announce that the Club will be renewing its partnership with Manchester United for a further four years. This will enable many more young people to benefit from international standard football training. It’s just the latest of many Club projects to develop football in Hong Kong and to share its many benefits with all levels of society. In fact, over the last five years the Club has invested some HK$491 million in football development. Our largest project, the 5-year football development programme with the Hong Kong Football Association, covers children’s, youth and women’s football as well as support for sports science and for developing coaches and referees. 26,000 footballers a year will benefit.
As regards our collaboration with Manchester United, we have launched four programmes over the last four years. The Jockey Club School Development Scheme has seen Manchester United Soccer School coaches share international standard training methods with football teams and coaches in 42 primary and secondary schools. The Jockey Club Youth Football Leadership Scheme has inspired over 150 teenagers to discover their inner strengths and leadership capabilities. During our Riding High Together festival at Easter, 380 boys and girls took part in a four-a-side tournament, with the top 50 attending a special Man U soccer clinic. And we’ve just completed a three-year project to develop Hong Kong’s first-ever football fitness database, which covers over 600 teenage players and provides valuable guidance and benchmarks for training the city’s next generation of youth football stars.
Under our new community football partnership with Manchester United, two of our existing programmes - the School Development Scheme and the Youth Football Leadership Scheme – will continue. We expect the total number of participating schools to exceed 100, with another 4,800 students benefiting. There will also be new initiatives. First, we will develop football programmes for parents, using this opportunity to strengthen family bonds. Second, the JC Youth Football Academy Summit will see Manchester United’s youth academy team visit Hong Kong in summer 2017 to play friendly games against Hong Kong youth sides and take part in cultural and sharing activities.
Speaking as a football lover myself, I’m really looking forward to seeing many more young people enjoying the pleasures as well as the many benefits that come from playing football.
Racing action returns to Happy Valley this evening and it will be the penultimate race meeting at this city racecourse this season. We have eight races on the card, the sixth race is the Sham Chung Handicap, a Class 3 event over the C course, with a field of 12 traveling 2,200m. The pace is likely to be slow in a race where there aren’t too many who like to be placed forward. Sempiternal is the anticipated early leader with Happy Contender also to take an early spot with a good draw and Kei Chiong aboard. Po Ching Treasure could go forward from his outside barrier too.
Lotus Strikes Back has been in solid form as the season continues and certainly looks as though he will relish a farther trip. His closing kick over 2,000 metres at Sha Tin is suggestive of that and Joao Moreira should be happy with a plum draw to save plenty of ground. He is my main win chance. Allcash just missed over this trip two starts ago and should be better suited by the tempo in this race than his last outing. Renaissance Art prefers these longer trips and is back down in Class 3, drawing Zac Purton, who has a great placing strike rate (30 of his last 68 rides in the top three) for trainer Caspar Fownes.
Comment
