Although the inclement weather brought by Severe Tropical Storm Fengshen on Wednesday forced to us to scratch our midweek meeting at Happy Valley, it does mean that we'll have a very special season-ending climax next week, as the last Sha Tin meeting on Tuesday 1 July will be followed two days later by a season finale at Happy Valley on Thursday 3 July.
Despite the fact that we were given permission to arrange a replacement meeting at short notice, I would again like to express my grave concern over the effectiveness of the drainage system beneath the Happy Valley Racecourse area. I think it requires immediate attention as it fails to effectively divert rainwater collecting from the Happy Valley area during severe weather, leading to serious flooding in the vicinity.
We can see the severity of the problem from the severe rainstorm that hit Hong Kong on 7 June. That morning, the storm water tanks quickly became full and the overflowing water flooded Wong Nai Chung Road, bringing traffic across the whole area to a standstill. As a resident of Happy Valley for well over a century, the Club will be very pleased to work with the Government to look into possible improvement measures to alleviate the situation. We believe that these drainage improvements will benefit not just the Club, but everyone who lives or works in the surrounding community.
Hong Kong people care a lot about their horse racing and racecourses, something amply demonstrated by the fact that we received more than 312,000 public votes for Most Popular Horse and Jockey of the Year in the voting campaign that ended 10 days ago. This figure was 32 per cent higher than the votes cast last season, which is a very encouraging result. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank for your participation and for your continued support for our sport of racing in Hong Kong.
Today's Sha Tin meeting will now be the third last of the season and we've arranged 11 exciting races for you. I will be paying particular attention to the performances of Namjong Hunter and The Goodies. Namjong Hunter scored his maiden win in his last appearance ?his third career start in Hong Kong ?at 1400m in Sha Tin. He will be partnered with apprentice jockey Marco Chui to race in the same distance today. I hope he can produce another nice run with the five-pound weight allowance given.
For The Goodies, this Caspar Fownes-trained horse is now in great form as he finished second in both of his last two runs, at Sha Tin and Happy Valley respectively. Today he will be running at 2000m and received a fair draw of Gate 6. I look forward to seeing if he can deliver another great performance this afternoon.
Later on this weekend, or in the early hours of Monday morning by Hong Kong time, the Euro 2008 football tournament will come to its climax with the final between Germany and Spain. In last Thursday morning's first semi-final, Turkey again showed their toughness while facing Germany, but I'm glad that my home team enjoyed a bit of luck with Philipp Lahm netting a late winner in stoppage time.
In the other semi-final, the Spanish players showed great footwork and strong midfield dominance in their convincing 3-0 victory against Russia, so I think we can look forward to a very exciting final. It's obvious the Spanish team is now the favourite to win, but I hope key German players like Miroslav Klose, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Lukas Podolski and Michael Ballack can perform their best and win a fourth European Championship for Germany.
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