Although we have only just put away the Christmas decorations, it's already time to start thinking about Chinese New Year, which falls unusually early this year. Later I had a briefing for the media to tell them about some of the plans the Club is putting in place to celebrate the new Year of the Ox with racing fans. Let me also give you a preview here.
Our Chinese New Year raceday on the third day of the Lunar New Year, Wednesday 28 January, will again include all the regular favourites - lion dances, a colourful opening ceremony, 11 exciting races, an array of special trackside activities and a spectacular closing parade and performance. Although the economy has not given any of us much to cheer about in recent weeks, I hope Hong Kong people will put their worries behind them for the start of a new year and turn out in force for this very special occasion, which traditionally has always drawn our biggest attendance of the season at Sha Tin.
Our special guests this year will include popular local entertainers Liza Wang and Raymond Lam, food connoisseur Suzi Wong who will give interactive presentations with racing fans, feng shui master Mak Ling Ling who will conduct fortune-telling sessions, and performance groups from the US, Spain and Denmark who will join the closing ceremony. So I hope you will find our on-course programmes attractive and circle Wednesday 28 January in your new 2009 diaries now!
Although 2008 finished on a rather downbeat note with stock markets and the economy tumbling around the world, we shouldn't forget all the positive things that happened during the year, especially the thrill of seeing Hong Kong join the distinguished ranks of Olympic cities with its staging of the equestrian events of the Beijing 2008 Olympics and Paralympics. Looking at 2008 as a whole, I would definitely say it was one of the most exciting years I've witnessed in Hong Kong to date.
Moreover, the Olympic legacy will remain with us for many years to come, and we at the Club are working hard to ensure that. As you may know, it's our intention to establish a Hong Kong Olympic Museum and we've already started asking the public for donations. Encouragingly, more than 1,000 items have already been received, so we've decided to put some of the most interesting on show immediately at the Hong Kong Racing Museum at Happy Valley, where yesterday we opened an "Olympic Donation Corner".
I encourage you to take your families along to see this mini-collection, which includes such things as a torch from the Olympic Torch Relay, horse rosettes for the medal winners of the Individual Dressage event, jackets and helmets worn by Hong Kong riders Samantha Lam, Kenneth Cheng and Patrick Lam, special commemorative stamps and banknotes, and copies of the of the Olympic Village magazine, Village Life. There are also items donated by Chinese, Russian and Dutch riders.
As another reminder of Hong Kong's Olympic legacy, we shall have some very special guests at this evening's Happy Valley race meeting – a group of 21 athletes, including gold medallists, from China's Olympic diving, synchronised swimming and athletics teams. They are visiting Hong Kong to give demonstrations and participate in fund-raising activities for the Chinese Athletes Educational Foundation and the 2009 East Asian Games in Hong Kong.
We will be playing host to this group of delegation tonight and have designated Race 6 as the Olympic Friendship Cup, to pay tribute to the athletes' outstanding performances in the Beijing 2008 Olympics and commemorate the successful staging of the Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong. Some of the gold medallists will go on stage to present the Cup at the completion of the race.
I think the Olympic Friendship Cup will be a terrific and very open race. I will pay special attention to Ocean Wide as he is in brilliant form this season, notching up three winners and one third in four starts. The son of Kashani trialled well under Derek Leung last week and he should be the one to beat with the ten-pound apprentice on board tonight. Mi Reilly and Confucius Classic could be a threat to Ocean Wide as both the five-year-olds delivered good performances in their last outings, finishing third and second respectively. Let's see if they can continue their promising performances tonight.
In the Cha Kwo Ling Handicap, I will be expecting another promising run from Willing Storm who won impressively last time from the outside draw. From a good stall of three tonight, Willing Storm should be able to deliver another decent performance. Other strong contenders in the race include Bear Macho, Hong Kong Superstar, Adaikali and Beautiful Dreamer, so I will be looking forward to see another exciting race tonight.
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