Several of our race meetings this month have been heavily affected by rain. That was especially true for our two recent meetings with our major media partners – the ATV Cup and South China Morning Post Cup meetings. I'm pleased to say, though, that the races have been, as exciting as ever.
Accordingly, we have changed the track we are going to use from A+3 to B tomorrow. I would like to offer my special praise to our Tracks Department colleagues as they have made special efforts to maintain the track in a good condition at Sha Tin over the past few days. However, as the torrential rain at the ATV race day last weekend brought severe wear and tear to the track, we had no choice but to make changes to our earlier selection, so as to maintain the condition of the track. So I hope you will all give us your understanding of why the contingency measures were made.
Tomorrow's programme at Sha Tin will feature the Citi Champions & Chater Cup, our last Group One event of the season. Although there are only eight runners in the field, which is not unusual for a longer-distance race in Hong Kong, there is certainly no shortage of quality in the line-up. A number of commentators have described the race as a face-off between the older and up-and-coming generations of stayers and I'm inclined to agree with that view. While last year's champion Packing Winner and runner-up Viva Pataca will again be contesting this final leg of the Citi Triple Crown series event, we also have the top three finishers in this year's Hong Kong Derby – Collection, Thumbs Up and Mr Medici – flying the banner for the younger generation. With this excellent field of runners, I think it'll be a very interesting race.
In the meantime, I think the jockey line-up for this Group One event is equally competitive. For instance, Darren Beadman has chosen to ride Collection, after riding both this Derby champion and reigning Stayer of the Year Viva Pataca in trackwork on Thursday. That shows how close are the credentials and chances of these two horses. In-form riders Zac Purton and Brett Prebble, who recently won the Sha Tin Vase and KrisFlyer International Sprint respectively, will meanwhile be on board for Packing Winner and Thumbs Up for the first time.
But I'm particularly happy to see home-grown jockey Alex Lai continues to partner Mr Medici following their victory in the Queen Mother Memorial Cup last time. Trainer Peter Ho has long been supporting local riders, and Alex performed superbly in that local Group 3 event. I look forward to seeing this local partnership have a good performance in this competitive race.
I don't think it would be easy to guess the winner in this race. However, I can see Beadman's dilemma in choosing between Viva Pataca and Collection, and I tend to agree with his final choice too. That's because even if the race is lacking of pace, Collection has an astonishing ability to quicken and I think this will give him the edge to win in this season's Group One finale.
There will be 11 races on the card and among them, I will also look forward to seeing the performance of Wonderful Gains in the Lucky Star Handicap. This three-year-old Aussie import has shown consistent performance in all his three appearances this season. Although he is drawn wide tomorrow, I still expect he will give another decent run.
I wish to remind you all that we will be unveiling the nominees for this year's Most Popular Horse and Most Popular Jockey voting before the start of Race 1 at the Sha Tin Parade Ring tomorrow. Let me give you a hint that on top of the ones you might expect in the list, there are also other new faces who have been nominated. Anyway, I hope you can give them your support tomorrow.
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