I'm sure you all enjoyed a lot the thrilling duel between Absolute Champion and Sacred Kingdom in the Centenary Sprint Cup at Sha Tin last Sunday. Although both these top horses had minor ailments in the run-up to the race, a leg problem and a fever respectively, they still put in a fantastic performance. I hope they can provide just as exciting a contest next month in the Chairman's Sprint Prize, the second leg of our Champion Sprint Series. But I'm very interested to see a possible ultimate contest between the pair and top miler Good Ba Ba in the last leg of the series, the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup on March 16.
I have to offer my heartfelt thanks to the 22,000 racing fans who came along to the two racetracks to watch Sunday's programme, on what was surely the coldest day we've had so far this racing season. Your undaunted enthusiasm and support was a compliment to us, and further reminds us to make sure we keep providing you with all the very best services.
The Lunar New Year will be here next week and I hope you can show the same wonderful enthusiasm for our Chinese New Year race meeting at Sha Tin on Saturday 9 February, the third day of the Year of the Rat. This raceday has long been the most popular meeting of the season among our racing fans. As well as wanting to try out their betting luck in the New Year, many people come along to enjoy the festive atmosphere and special celebration programmes we put on at the racecourse.
This year, we have once again arranged a wide variety of attractive programmes like an opening show featuring popular TV artists, the traditional lion dance performance and a closing parade featuring the UCLA Bruins Marching Team, the Tahiti Ballet with their Fire Eater, and a 230-foot long golden dragon dance. We will also host a Chinese New Year "Scratch and Win" Game, with each racegoer being given a game card on entering the racecourse. There are totally 100 taels of gold up for grabs, as 100 lucky game winners will each take home a golden rat statuette weighing one tael.
On top of the other prizes, the total amount we're giving away will exceed $1.6 million. So please mark the date of 9 February in your diaries, and come along to Sha Tin to join our exciting racing programme and supporting activities.
Before that, though, we have two more regular racedays lined up, the first being at Happy Valley tonight where we have eight exciting races on the card. I will be keeping a particular lookout for Golden Win (Race 4) and Rewarding Star (Race 5), as in their last runs, both horses were hampered by other runners at the final straight and checked respectively. I hope they both would have better luck and improved performances tonight. Butterfield (Race 8) is another runner that worth to be noted. With his partner Douglas Whyte being suspended, French jockey Christophe Soumillon will stand in and ride the horse for the first time. I hope the horse can repeat the success as he did in the same distance last November.
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