Last Monday, I attended a press conference at Happy Valley to announce that long-established local trading company, the Jebsen Group, will establish a partnership with The Hong Kong Jockey Club by being the title sponsor of the Jebsen Cup Race Day for three consecutive years, with the inaugural race day to be held on 27 January.
It's very encouraging to see this deal realised as it shows Jebsen's recognition of the world-class quality of racing in Hong Kong, and the outstanding brand image of the Club. This is also what has inspired our partnerships with other renowned enterprises, like the sponsors who are supporting two of our major races this Sunday - multinational banking corporation Citi, who have put their name on the Stewards' Cup for the first time this year, and luxury car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz who continue to sponsor the Hong Kong Classic Mile.
All these three renowned institutions can trace their history back to the 19th century, and their support for the Club also recognises, in a way, the Club's own historic role in contributing to Hong Kong's development for well over 120 years.
Talking about past history, I recently met a group of visiting guests from Guangdong and we had a very happy chat about the history of our Club, as well as that of Hong Kong and Guangdong. I was amazed to learn that we Germans already had linkages with the Cantonese as early as in the 1840s, as the cannons installed at fortresses in Humen during the Opium War were made by a German manufacturer. The Guangdong visitors were very keen to learn more information about these German cannons and add it to their archives, so I promised to help them if I could.
Of course, the heavy machinery plant that manufactured these cannons has been shut down for many years. But amazingly, one of my friends is a former board member of the German company that later acquired that manufacturer, and so it has been possible for me to give them a helping hand about the history of the cannons. What a small world it is!
Although there are no cannons at Sha Tin Racecourse, the big guns of the local horse racing scene will again be to the fore in the three Group One races taking place there over the coming fortnight - the Citi Stewards' Cup and Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile this Sunday, followed by the Centenary Sprint Cup on 27 January. The former race is especially eye-catching for me as among the entries are Viva Pataca and Good Ba Ba, two champion horses that produced outstanding runs in the International Races last month. While Good Ba Ba ran a better race than Viva Pataca in their first match-up in the Sha Tin Trophy last October, this will be their first encounter in a local Group One race and I'm looking forward to it a lot.
Before that, we have eight exciting races at Happy Valley tonight and I will be paying special attention to Profiting Champion and Flag Finder in Race 7. These two sprinters have both reached top form and I think it will be a close call between the two this time. I also hope to see how Prime Target (Race 8), which has had two winners and a second-place in his three career starts at Happy Valley, rebounds from his disappointing run at Sha Tin last time.
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