Now that the dust from this year's International Races has settled, it's a good time to look back at the event in more depth. I was especially pleased to see our betting turnover on international day reach its highest in seven years - HK$1,033 million. I believe that one major contributing factor is the additional number of non-raceday simulcast races we've been able to bring local racing fans this season. After watching many of the overseas runners perform in simulcast events, our racing fans are now better placed to understand and evaluate their current form, making them more informed when they decided to offer their betting support in our International Races.
We also know that there was huge interest overseas in betting on the four International Group One races last Sunday. These bets could be channeled into our local pools for future international meetings, and contribute to Government revenue and the community, if it were feasible for us to establish commingling agreements with other racing jurisdictions. The double taxation issue on commingled bets has, however, become a major hurdle for years and I sincerely hope the Government can actively consider ways of resolving the issue in the near future.
It was nice to receive commendations from a number of overseas journalists and horsemen after the International Races. For instance, John O'Shea, trainer of Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile runner Racing To Win, left me a message through this blog, offering his compliments on the efficiency and professional manner of the Club's team. I'd like to thank him and other visiting trainers for their great support, as their recognition and suggestions can certainly help drive us to do even better in the years to come.
Although our regular racegoers turned out in force to cheer on the home runners at Sha Tin last week, I would still like to see more non-racing fans come along to enjoy the atmosphere of this great sporting carnival. In the long-term, our aim must be to make it as big a social occasion in Hong Kong as the Melbourne Cup day is in Australia.
While most of the local news coverage was focused on the International Races last week, there were one or two other notable pieces of racing news from overseas. One of these was about 10-time Irish champion rider Mick Kinane, as he announced that he will be retired from riding after 34 years in the saddle. To me it did not come as a great surprise as I've also heard about this last year, but the exciting prospects shown by Sea The Stars led Mick to decide deferring his retirement plan. And it proved that he made a right decision as his famous partnership with this brilliant colt brought him with six Group One victories this year, and regained some of the best form of his life.
I'm sure many of you will also remember some of his other great performances over the past decade on board European champions like Montjeu, Galileo and Rock Of Gibraltar, and some of his big race performances in Hong Kong over the years. Having won the Hong Kong Derby with Che Sara Sara and the Hong Kong Cup with Precision - both trained by David Oughton, his twin Group One victories on board Able One in the Champions Mile and Viva Pataca in the Champions and Chater Cup in 2007 were especially memorable. It's sad to know that we won't see Mick's terrific riding skills anymore, but I think we are all delighted that he can bow out from racing at such an incredibly high point.
Another jockey who will be very familiar to local racing fans, Eric Legrix from France, will also be retiring from the saddle tomorrow, after riding his final races at Kranji Racecourse in Singapore. Eric spent 10 years riding in Hong Kong from 1993 onwards, establishing a successful partnership with trainer Patrick Biancone. He will soon return to France to work with trainer Pascal Bary, with a view to taking up horse training himself. I'm sure you will all want to join me in wishing Mick and Eric all the best for the future.
Today it's back to domestic racing at Sha Tin, but there will still be a lot of top-class horses and jockeys on parade. Among the 10 races on the card, the LG Handicap is a very open race and I'll be watching the performances of Happy Reunion and Dane Patrol in this event. Having delivered a few nice runs last season, Happy Reunion has continued to show further progress as he finished a close third in his season debut in a 1000m race at Sha Tin last month. He will again be partnered by local jockey Alex Lai this afternoon and I look forward to seeing if the horse will perform even better in this race. Dane Patrol competed in the same race with Happy Reunion for his first run in Hong Kong last time. It was a nice performance as he ran fifth at just one-and-a-half lengths behind the winner. He will be competing in the same distance again and I'll see if Brett Prebble will get the horse a first winner in Hong Kong.
In the Hisense Handicap, I will pay my attention to Brave Kid and Jun Dao. It seems Brave Kid has won his debut at Sha Tin with relatively ease last time and it seems that he's a good horse in the making. Despite he was drawn wide for Gate 12, Douglas Whyte will be riding him again and I hope he will deliver another good run at an extended distance today. Jun Dao also shows a lot of promise as he performed very well in his trackwork. I'll see if this New Zealand import will spring a surprise in this race.
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