I believe all of you still remember that the Club hosted a job fair in Tin Shui Wai last month to recruit staff for our new Telebet Centre there. The response was overwhelming as thousands of job seekers, most of them coming from Tin Shui Wai, attended the event and were interviewed that day. I am most delighted that in just two-and-a-half weeks of time, more than 550 trainees have already been employed by the Club after completing their basic training at the centre.
The new Telebet Centre came into operation last Wednesday and I'm happy to say that everything went smoothly on the first day of operation, which included the night race meeting that evening. I'm told that about 250 new recruits were rostered for duty and they all performed very well.
I hope they will find the Centre a nice place to work, as we've put a lot of effort into providing a safe and comfortable working atmosphere, including sophisticated ventilation systems and ergonomically-designed workstations. We've given a lot of thought to the environment, too, by adopting power saving installations and other green measures to make efficient use of energy.
The Centre has also been designed to support future system enhancements and expansion, which I very much hope that we can implement at an early date if the Government approves our request for five more local racedays and a total of 20 simulcasts a season. If a decision can be made soon, we could have the new Telebet Centre in full operation by the start of next season in September, which will benefit even more people living in Tin Shui Wai, as a total of 2,500 part-time staff will be required to work there.
Currently we are quite restricted in the number and timing of our simulcasts, but I'm pleased to say that this Sunday is one of the occasions when we can bring you two top races from Singapore in addition to our regular Sha Tin programme – the KrisFlyer International Sprint and the Singapore Airlines International Cup.
In fact, I am writing this from Singapore, as I arrived here last night. I will show my support for two of our top sprinters, Inspiration and Sacred Kingdom, who will be taking part in the KrisFlyer International Sprint. It will be an absorbing challenge as they are taking on the likes of Takeover Target and local hopeful Rocket Man in this S$1 million event. While Sacred Kingdom has had a great preparation and drawn well in the race, Inspiration reportedly lost a bit of weight en route to Singapore and has to cope with a tougher outside gate. It's great to hear, though, that he has been eating well and regained some weight over the past few days.
Personally, I think Singapore star sprinter Rocket Man will have the chance to clinch the first international glory for Singapore in seven years, but veteran sprinter Takeover Target will be the horse for him to beat in this race. Sacred Kingdom will also have a good chance to finish in the first three, but he will have to improve from his last run to go further. For another simulcast race – the Singapore Airlines International Cup – if the turf track doesn't get too soft, I think Luca Cumani's Presvis will have no problem in winning this race.
Anyway, I'm looking forward a lot to visiting Kranji Racecourse again tomorrow night and to cheering on these two great ambassadors for Hong Kong racing. Though I think it will be a very competitive race for the duo, I do hope one of them can bring honour to Hong Kong by winning this top race.
Both the two Singapore simulcasts will be screened in the late evening, Hong Kong time, so don't forget that prior to that we have a full afternoon programme of 11 races at Sha Tin. I will be keeping a close eye on the Club's website to follow progress, and especially checking the performances of King Dancer and Rocket Force in the Japan Racing Association Trophy.
As a 3-year-old, King Dancer has shown great progress in his two victories at the mile distance, showing he has the credential to challenge the 4-year-old classic series next season. Let's see if he will score another winner when he features at an extended distance of 1800m tomorrow. Having performed decently and finished a close second in his last run, Rocket Force will enjoy a nice draw and I hope he will have another good performance in the same distance tomorrow.
Comment
