Last weekend, we staged our annual pre-season carnival at Sha Tin Racecourse, and I was very happy to learn that more than 8,600 people came along to participate. I was there too and was delighted to see so many Owners, Club members, racing fans, and their children joining the various events and activities we arranged inside the racecourse. I chatted with quite a number of them and they all seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot.
This Sunday, the racing action begins in earnest, and my Club colleagues and I have been busy with a lot of final preparation work. For me, two of the most important pre-season events each year are the bai sun ceremonies at Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses, which took place on Thursday and Friday respectively.
I know that it's a Chinese tradition going back centuries to conduct bai sun ceremonies for the opening of new buildings, businesses or events – so although I come from Germany and am a Christian, I have a lot of respect for this custom, and am always pleased to play my part in wishing for a smooth and successful season ahead.
It should be another very exciting season, especially as we have gained Government approval to stage five extra racedays and 15 overseas simulcast days, thanks to the strong support of many different parties. Although it's too early at present to forecast how turnover will go this season, I'm cautiously optimistic that we will see a steady recovery from the financial downturn. Anyway, we will closely monitor the trend as the season progresses.
To give all racegoers better racecourse experience, we've also conducted several facilities upgrade work at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley Racecourses during the summer break. I've taken a site walk to these renovated facilities earlier, and I'm impressed by the new settings of these areas.
For instance, the newly renovated seating at the public stand in Happy Valley now offers a more personal environment, with seats and writing tables equipped with sockets for Customer Input Terminals for added betting convenience. The air-conditioning work at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley made the venues more comfortable, especially under hot and humid weather. Of course I will not miss out the upgraded Diamond Vision Screen at Happy Valley, which has been extended to the public side to give racegoers superb live images, as well as additional racing and betting information. Anyway, I do hope you all would welcome these initiatives and we will carry out more improvement work in both racecourses in the seasons to come.
As always for the season opening day and other major racedays, we have organised a wide range of special on-course activities at Sha Tin to keep our racegoers well entertained. You should definitely not miss the opening ceremony in the Parade Ring, as apart from the traditional Gong-Striking Ceremony, there will be a lion dance featuring an amazing 125 lions, to mark the 125th Anniversary of the Club. All racegoers will also receive a free 2009/10 racing calendar when they enter the racecourse. So I look forward to seeing you all at Sha Tin tomorrow.
I know that many racing fans can't wait for the season to start. Since we announced the entries for tomorrow's meeting back on Monday, the racing media have already been carrying a mass of articles analysing the races and discussing the winning chances of different runners.
I've gone through all 10 races on the card and I believe we should be in for a lot of excitement. In the first race of the season, I'll be paying my attention to Sunny Smiles as the 5-year-old works well after the summer break and the stable change. Let's see if he can win the first race of the 2009/2010 season.
Talking about the HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup, I think it's a very open race. Although Medic Power and Tuscan Spirit are the early favorites, I like Brilliant Chapter more and I will be expecting to see an exciting finish of the race!
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