As a signatory jurisdiction of the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering, the Club always commits to reciprocating penalties imposed by the Racing Stewards of other signatory jurisdictions. This mechanism has performed effectively worldwide for decades, as other racing jurisdictions will do likewise and reciprocate any penalties our Club's Racing Stewards might impose on their jockeys or trainers.
The reciprocity of penalties across jurisdictions has always been a cornerstone of the integrity of racing. To my mind, the unprecedented decision made by Racing NSW has tilted the balance and seriously upset the mutual respect between different racing jurisdictions.
Sad though it is for this unfortunate incident to have occurred and has made IFHA and ARF members including the Club, to re-address and re-assure the essence of reciprocity, I'm sure it will not disrupt our preparations for the International Races, which are now just one week away. Our international week will kick off tomorrow as 31 lots of juvenile colts and geldings will breeze up at Sha Tin Racecourse in front of our Owners, Members and Trainers, prior to being put up for auction in the 2008 Hong Kong International Sale on 13 December. In addition to those two events, you should not miss the exciting action in the Cathay Pacific International Jockeys' Championship at Happy Valley on Wednesday 10 December, as well as the four big races themselves and a host of on-course entertainment programmes we have arranged for you at the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races day next Sunday, 14 December.
I'd like to give all of you a heads up here for a special arrangement we've made for the Jockey Challenge for the International Jockeys' Championship meeting on Wednesday night. The three races scheduled for the Championship - Race 3, Race 5 and Race 7 - will be the only three nominated races for the Jockey Challenge pool that evening, and the 12 top jockeys from around the world who are participating in this event will be the selections nominated for the pool. The scoring system of the International Jockeys Championship will also be consistent with that of the Jockey Challenge. We will release the details of this arrangement later today and I believe this will surely make the Jockey Challenge more interesting and relevant to the International Jockeys' Championship that night.
Before that, however, we still have another domestic Sha Tin meeting today, mostly on the all-weather track. Among the 10 races on the card, I will especially be watching the performances of Fair Win and Lucky Quality. Fair Win performed nicely in his previous run at Sha Tin, showing signs of revival in his form. He will be partnered by Brett Prebble this time, so let's see if he can perform even better this afternoon.
For Lucky Quality, I believe many racing fans were disappointed by his performance in the Cathay Pacific International Sprint Trial a fortnight ago. However, he will be returning to race on the all-weather track where he is still undefeated. This quality front-runner will start the race from Gate 2 and I wonder if he can produce another splendid performance there today.
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