I hope you all enjoyed a lot the opportunity to gather with your families and friends over the long May Day weekend, as well as the double programme of exciting races that we provided.
In recent weeks, I had to give some serious thoughts to my position as Chairman of the Asian Racing Federation, as I found it difficult for me to work with a particular individual who lacks mutual respect and is not following set practice.
As you will all remember, the Club's Racing Stewards disqualified jockey Christopher Munce from racing for 30 months in November last year, after he was found guilty of a serious breach of our Rules of Racing. Sadly, Racing New South Wales later chose not to respect the established protocols and decided not to reciprocate that judgment on Munce. They eventually issued Munce with a licence to ride in their jurisdiction, despite the fact that both Hong Kong and Australia are signatories of the International Agreement on Breeding, Racing and Wagering. Not only did it upset the long-established mutual respect between HK and Australia, such an action has also brought condemnation from major racing jurisdictions around the world, as well as the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA).
I've learnt in recent weeks that Racing NSW - the host of the upcoming Asian Racing Conference in Sydney next year - has engaged Australian sports betting company Tabcorp as the sponsor of the Conference. This decision has surprised the Executive Council of the Asian Racing Federation (ARF).
As an organisation representing all racing regulators and racing organisers in the region, it would be damaging if ARF is perceived to be deriving direct financial gains from a wagering operator, as it would jeopardise ARF's independence in its representations to governments. Concerns from ARF Executive Council regarding such a sponsorship has been communicated to Racing NSW, but to everyone's disappointment, the Chief Executive of Racing NSW, Peter V'landys has chosen to ignore this and sent out the announcement about this sponsorship agreement.
This is a very disappointing situation, and personally, I find it really difficult to work with Mr V'landys further. That's why I duly took the decision to resign. I've since talked to a number of my overseas counterparts and media representatives in the past few days, and initially they found my decision rather surprising, but I'm pleased to know that they understood my difficult situation when I explained it to them further.
With the Federation soon to begin its preparations for the biennial Asian Racing Conference, I don't want to see my personal feelings or other reasons affect the organising work. Therefore I decided it would be in the Federation's best interest for me to stand down from the chairmanship, and I hope there could be other candidates who can work better with the conference organiser than I have been able to.
However, I have been asked to remain on the Executive Council of ARF, and maintain my post as a Vice-Chairman of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities, so that I can continue performing my role in furthering the healthy development of our sport in Asia. The incoming ARF Chairman, Dr Koji Sato from the Japan Racing Association, will not be in such a difficult position as me, and I'm sure he will enjoy great success in steering the racing development of the Asia region.
The Club and I will continue to treasure our relationships with other overseas racing jurisdictions and racing clubs. Tonight at Happy Valley, we will be hosting the France Galop race night, featuring two special races - the France Galop Cup and Le French May Trophy, to commemorate the 160th anniversary of French presence in Hong Kong. In reciprocity, there will be two races in the name of the HKJC to be run at Deauville Racecourse on 15 August later this year. The French love their horse racing just as much as we do in Hong Kong, and I'm sure this pioneering collaboration with France Galop, the sport's governing body in France, will foster closer relationships between these two leading world racing jurisdictions. We have also laid on some special French food and wine treats for you, so I hope you will all enjoy soaking up the Gallic atmosphere.
In the Le French May Trophy, I shall be watching the performances of Glenealy Star and Super Snippets. In his previous race, Glenealy Star was severely checked early on but he still performed nicely in the closing stages. He will enjoy a better draw this time and let's see if this factor will provide an advantage for this frontrunner. Super Snippets finished a close third while being a long shot last time. Zac Purton will be partnering this horse again and I hope he can repeat that decent performance tonight.
For the France Galop Cup, I think it is one of the most competitive races in Happy Valley this season as many runners in this race are in great form. Among them, I would slightly favour Willing Storm as his performances in both of his two previous winning starts have truly been outstanding. Iron Fist and Veni Vedi Vici are also two consistent performers at the Valley. These two runners will enjoy some weight advantage tonight and I think they are also capable to stage a challenge in this trophy race.
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