Last weekend, I was very sad to learn that Nancy Tang, a volunteer leader for the Olympic equestrian events, had sustained serious injuries in a traffic accident while she was on her way to the Equestrian Company’s office in Sha Tin for a training session. I was even more saddened to hear the news that she passed away on Monday. I should like to pass my sincere condolences to her family. However important the Olympics, nothing can be more important than people's lives. I do hope everyone will take great care of their personal safety.
The Club has always paid the utmost attention to jockeys’ safety and without question this is our first priority in making racing decisions. At our race meeting at Happy Valley last Wednesday with heavy rainfall during the first few races, we had a meeting with four jockeys in the enquiry room to further understand the situation. The jockeys voiced the opinion that if torrential rain continued, the track conditions and their vision would likely worsen. However, they were at that time of the view that it would be safe for racing to continue. We reassured them that we would keep closely monitoring the weather and track conditions. Fortunately the rain weakened later on and the race meeting was completed safely.
This week the weather has been unkind to us again, with tropical cyclone Fengshen skirting Hong Kong in the early hours of today, and dumping 123mm of rain on Happy Valley overnight. Our officials carried out two inspections this morning and found that considerable surface water remained on the track. It was in comparatively worse condition than before the commencement of the previous Wednesday's race meeting. Having considered the prevailing conditions and the forecast for the probability of continuing rain, possibly heavy at times, and the potential safety risks to both jockeys and racehorses, our Board of Stewards eventually decided to abandon tonight’s meeting.
Although there are no racing tonight, I believe many of you will still be eagerly watching the Euro 2008 football tournament on TV, as Germany will face Turkey in the first semi-final that will be screened in the early hours of Thursday morning Hong Kong time. Following their below-par performances in the final two group matches, I'm pleased that Germany at last looked very effective in their outstanding victory against Portugal in the quarter-final. Turkey have produced amazing comebacks in each of their last three games, showing great fighting spirit, but injuries and suspensions rule out a number of key players in this crucial clash, so I think that the in-form German team will have a very good chance of reaching the final.
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