Let me first offer my heartfelt thanks for the great support you've all given to our HKJC 125th Anniversary Sweepstakes, for which all tickets were sold out on Wednesday evening. We've kicked off the sweepstakes selling campaign in early October, meaning the 2.5 million tickets have all been sold in six weeks' time. This is great news for everyone in Hong Kong, as the proceeds will be allocated to support different charitable and community programmes.
The deciding race for the Sweepstakes will be the HKJC 125th Anniversary Cup, which will be run as Race 8 at Sha Tin tomorrow. On Thursday I attended the barrier draw for this race, when we also unveiled the top prize in the sweepstakes – 45 gold bars worth approximately HK$12.5 million. As you might expect, this glistening sight attracted huge interest from the media and guests at the ceremony, as well as our trainers and jockeys who were there. It's very rare to get the chance of seeing so much gold before your very eyes.
Sweepstakes hold a very special place in the history of our local racing. This popular forerunner of the lottery brings back lots of memories to our older racing fans and other Hong Kong citizens. To echo the old traditions of the sweepstakes, we decided to make the first prize HK$12.5 million worth of gold, as gold is a symbol of wealth and prestige, and it has always given people a sense of stability and reliability, particularly during difficult times. Similarly, through our substantial contributions to the community, and different charity projects that we sponsored at both good times and bad times, the Club has played its role as a reliable partner of local society over the past century.
As those who have purchased the sweepstakes tickets are indirectly giving their support to charitable causes, we want this grand prize to be seen not merely in money terms, but as something unique that will bring luck and good fortune to our sweepstakes winners. So I hope you will all come to Sha Tin tomorrow to watch the 125th Anniversary Cup race and see if you will be the lucky winner in our sweepstakes draw at the end of the afternoon.
To celebrate our 125th Anniversary, we are letting all racegoers enter the public enclosures free of charge, and there will big discounts on food and beverages, with some going for as little as half price. There will also be some special traditional treats on offer at our food stalls. In addition, we've arranged lots of special entertainment programmes, including dance and fashion shows to get the day off to an exciting start.
After the races are over, you can watch performances on the turf by Cantopop legend Sam Hui and singer Joey Yung, followed by the Lucky Draw for the Sweepstakes, then a spectacular pyrotechnics display to bring the show to a close. So there'll be plenty excitement on offer for everyone at Sha Tin tomorrow, and I hope you all have a great time.
Incidentally, the celebrations will not just be limited to our racing public as we've also prepared 521 birthday cakes in special heart and horseshoe shapes for our staff in different work locations and departments of the Club. This is our way of saying thank you to our colleagues for their efforts, and of sharing the happiness with them in the Club's month of birth.
Although I'm sure you will all have your minds on the sweepstakes draw tomorrow, I hope you won't forget the 10 races on the card which include two special feature races. The Cathay Pacific International Cup Trial is from the sporting perspective a real highlight and shows the world class quality HK Racing has achieved. The expected pace should be good or even fast which will make it more difficult for Packing Winner to score again. Therefore, I expect Viva Pataca to be the horse to beat with Thumbs Up, Collection and Mr Medici as the runner ups.
The HKJC 125th Anniversary Cup is a very challenging race and a real test for Taverner. I think Taverner can manage the stepping up of distance to 1200m but going first time around the bend is likely to be an issue for him. With the outside draw of 12 and a lot of horses with pace drawn on his inside, the four-year-old might be trapped 3 to 4 wide. Other horses like Lucky Prince, Medic Fortune and Always Something are no pushover, and newcomers like Quelle Surprise and Royal Doctor have shown potential in their overseas starts. I would recommend racing fans to look for value in this race which could be Always Something!
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