I am sure you have all been as saddened as I to hear the news of the terrible earthquake in Sichuan Province, which has already claimed the lives of thousands of people, with many others still unaccounted for. It is a deeply moving experience to see the pictures of whole towns almost flattened, young children and others trapped in collapsed schools and hospitals, and people desperately searching for their loved ones. My heart goes out to all the victims and their families.
Recognising that immediate assistance for relief work will be of utmost importance, the Club has already contributed emergency funding of HK$30 million to the Red Cross Society of China, via the Central Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong. We also took an early decision to play our part by launching a public fund-raising drive on Wednesday, and we hope that our customers as well as staff will contribute generously to this very worthy cause.
I was delighted that a number of the trainers, jockeys and owners involved in our race meeting on Wednesday evening wasted no time in pledging their support, by donating their prize money that night to the relief fund. Let me take this opportunity to offer my heartfelt thanks for their kindheartedness. I hope that all of you, too, will support our campaign and make contributions at the donation boxes we have set up at our Off-Course Betting Branches and both racecourses, so as to show the care and concern of Hong Kong people for the earthquake victims and survivors at this difficult moment.
While I shall continue paying close attention to the progress of our fund-raising drive, I am actually writing this message from Singapore, where I arrived last night to attend Sunday's Singapore Airlines International Cup raceday.
Although no Hong Kong runners will be participating in the 2,000-metre Cup race this year, two of our top sprinters – Absolute Champion and Sanziro – will be running in another main event of the day, the KrisFlyer International Sprint. It will be the first overseas campaign of their careers for both horses and they will be facing formidable opponents like Australian champion Takeover Target, but both are in good form at the moment and have reasonable draws.
I hope they can find their best form as should either of these two horses win the race. We will simulcast this race for betting in Hong Kong and you can offer your betting support tomorrow evening while cheering for our local horses.
Earlier in the afternoon there will also be 11 races on Sha Tin's regular card, and I will be checking the Club's website from Singapore to see how Super Fighter and Joy And Fun perform. Super Fighter will again be partnering with his winning jockey Alex Lai to contest in the 1,200-metre race at all-weather track – a course and distance where the horse got one win and two second-place finish in his last three starts. Joy And Fun will also be returning to a Class 1 race after finishing close in his last two starts at graded races. I hope to see if both runners can maintain their good performances tomorrow.
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