To me, there is no better way of celebrating a New Year than watching some exciting horse racing, and it seems that a lot of you share that view. I was delighted to learn that our turnover for the New Year's Day race meeting at Sha Tin reached a staggering HK$1,117 million, 12 per cent up on the same meeting in 2009. This also meant that we contributed HK$132 million to public spending through betting duty payments in just a single day.
In fact, these figures reflect a general positive recovery trend we've been seeing for most of this season so far. Nevertheless, being able to start a fresh year on such a high note underlines the real optimism we can now sense in the community as the economy and market conditions improve. I'm sure you will have experienced the same feeling yourselves around shopping malls and entertainment areas during the Christmas and New Year holidays.
I know that the Hong Kong Brands & Products Expo at Victoria Park, which is always one of the most popular seasonal attractions every year. This time, the Club participated in the 24-day Expo to commemorate its 125th Anniversary and share the celebrations with Hong Kong people through a series of historical and educational displays.
It proved very popular with Expo visitors of all ages, as the older generation were especially interested to see the historical photos and videos showing how the Club had grown and developed alongside Hong Kong, while the younger visitors were fascinated by the displays of horse bones and horse gear, and enjoyed posing for photos with the model ponies.
To show our care for the community, the Club's CARE@hkjc volunteers also hosted two guided tours to the Expo for several hundred grassroots families from Tung Chung, Sham Shui Po and Tin Shui Wai to visit our booth and to enjoy some special live performances we arranged at the Expo.
In total, I understand that nearly 180,000 people visited our booth over its 24-day period, and their feedback was very positive. A number of visitors enquired about the daily life of racehorses, and also horse riding opportunities in Hong Kong, while others suggested the Club continue participating this Expo in the future.
This year we will continue hosting a series of district-based projects to reach out to the community and give local residents a wider understanding of the Club's operations and its huge contributions to local society, as well as increasing their knowledge and awareness of horses and equine sports.
Tonight at Happy Valley you can again experience the excitement of night racing. Although I'm now away on business and will be absent from tonight's meeting, I've made some analysis of the racecard and will be closely watching the performance of King Creole in the Percival Handicap. After a promising effort on the dirt track at Sha Tin, he has drawn nicely tonight and should be positioned closer at about midfield behind a good pace. After shopping for holiday gifts, this looks to be a good selection for tonight.
The Bowrington Handicap will be a very competitive event. Among the runners, Flying In showed noticeable improvement with the addition of blinkers in his last run at Sha Tin and now steps up in distance at Happy Valley. He should not be overlooked as he has drawn the rail and is moving in the right direction.
A pair of progressive newcomers, Tai Sing Yeh and Vaugirard, will square off in the Craigengower Cricket Club Challenge Cup tonight. Tai Sing Yeh has been absolutely perfect in his two Hong Kong races and is set for another top performance tonight with Douglas Whyte jumping back on. Vaugirard added blinkers in his last start looks like a horse with a bright future. He will be closing fast to make this a real battle between two horses both on a rating of 70. This figures to be a very exciting contest.
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