Apart from getting the new racing season off to a great start last Sunday, we launched a series of special programmes to mark the Club's 125th Anniversary, including a 125th Anniversary Exhibition in the Public Enclosure of Grandstand II Sha Tin Racecourse. This seems to have proved very popular, as I understand that more than 7,000 racegoers visited the exhibition on Sunday alone. Many of them stayed there quite a long while to see the various displays and videos, which showcase the Club's history and the contributions we've made to local community over the past decades. If you didn't get a chance to see this exhibition, don't worry, because it will be there again this Sunday and, in fact, will remain in place until November.
We also set up a smaller, 'one-off' exhibition in the Jockey Club Box last Sunday, which Hong Kong's Chief Executive Donald Tsang visited after the season opening ceremony. Club Chairman John Chan and I accompanied him on a tour of the exhibits and he showed a lot of interest in the historic items that were on display.
Over the coming months, we're going to host many more activities to mark the Club's 125th Anniversary. One that I'm sure will be of particular interest, especially to our older racing fans, will be the HKJC 125th Anniversary Sweepstakes. Cash sweeps have played quite an important part in Hong Kong's horse racing history over the years, so we thought it was very appropriate to relaunch the concept in this special 125th year. Although it was many years before I first came to Hong Kong, I know that cash sweeps were very popular from the 1920s to the 1960s, as they gave ordinary people the chance to win a fortune, while the proceeds went to local charities in assisting those needy and destitute in the community.
The Grand Autumn Special Sweeps was always the most popular, as it was normally the event that kicked off the racing year. The race deciding the winners of the Autumn Sweeps was the Kwangtung Handicap Cup, an early-season race that is still run today - in fact it will be one of the feature races in tomorrow's Sha Tin programme.
Some 12 runners will be contesting this year's Kwangtung Handicap and I will be paying special attention to Caspar Fownes' Fair Trade. This Australian import showed his credential in his maiden victory in Hong Kong late last season. Having performed nicely in the barrier trial on all-weather track last week, I think he will be the horse to beat. However, I'll see the likes of Mr Medici, Dream Team and Unique Jewellery to give a real test to this young horse in this fantastic race.
Tony Cruz had a great start this season as he landed three winners in the season opening meeting last Sunday. I think his horses should perform well again in this meeting. Having said that, I think John Size is, in my opinion, due to win his first race of the season. Although his runners like Sapelli in the Foshan Handicap, and Darren in the Huizhou Handicap, will face strong opposition in respective races, they should have a good chance to make a breakthrough for Size!
Other than these few horses that I'll be watching tomorrow, I will also keep my eyes on Tony Cruz's Gem Of Chiu Ton should it be on race in the future. I was at the barrier trials at Sha Tin last Friday and the performance of this five-year-old did impress me a lot.
By the way, right after tomorrow's meeting, I will fly to Germany to celebrate my father's 80th birthday with him on Tuesday. It's been a while since I last saw him, so I am very much looking forward much to this short trip. It means that I will miss next Wednesday's Happy Valley meeting, but I'll continue to share my thoughts with you in my midweek blog. Talk to you then!
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