Those of you who follow international racing news closely may know that five of our top Hong Kong horses have entered for different events of the Dubai World Cup race meeting on 27 March. Hong Kong horses have had some promising results in Dubai in the past, with Vengeance Of Rain winning the Dubai Sheema Classic in 2007 and his fellow stayer Viva Pataca finishing runner-up in the same race a year later. The brand new venue for this year's Dubai World Cup – Meydan Racecourse – will host its first meeting next Thursday, which will provide a good opportunity to see how the new tracks run before our local entrants confirm their trip to the Middle East.
I think the opening of this racetrack, which has been equipped with truly world-class racing and accommodation facilities, will take Emirates racing to new heights. On top of that, the Dubai Racing Club has substantially increased the prize money for Dubai World Cup day. Most notably, the prize money for the Dubai World Cup race itself will be increased from US$6 million to US$10 million this year. Clearly these efforts are all part of a bold attempt to boost further the status of racing in Dubai and attract even more top participants from different continents.
In fact, this has been a worldwide trend in recent years as many other racing jurisdictions have put great efforts into lifting the standards of their races, the quality of their racehorses, hosting more international races and encouraging their owners to race their horses overseas. In this way they can enhance the international status of their sport.
Taking Japan racing as an example, they did not open any races to foreign runners and foreign jockeys in the past. However, gradual relaxations of these rules have brought about some remarkable advancements over the past decade. The Japan Racing Association has now decided to open all its graded races to overseas contenders starting this year. Should this bring an increase in the number of overseas horses competing in Japan, it will surely benefit the sport and enhance the quality of races there.
We in Hong Kong are also making strenuous efforts to enhance the quality of our racing and racecourse facilities, but our business is not only facing competition in areas like getting top quality runners and jockeys, and prize money from overseas racing jurisdictions. Last Wednesday a new casino resort was opened in Sentosa, Singapore, one of many new gaming entertainment projects in the region. Although the Singapore Government has not yet issued a gaming licence to enable the new casino to operate, the resort has already received an overwhelming response from local residents and visitors, and I learnt from news reports which saying that all hotel rooms are fully booked for the coming Chinese New Year holiday.
While the resort operator hoping to draw 13 million visitors each year, I think this new leisure entertainment destination will pose direct impacts to Hong Kong's racing industry. Those local visitors who seek for gaming entertainment will probably be lured by this new tourist attraction, and part of the betting money may subsequently be drained off Hong Kong. So I'd say competition for our racing sport comes from everywhere.
In tomorrow's race meeting at Sha Tin you can also watch some great competition among a group of potential world-class runners, as our four-year-old classic racing season begins with the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Classic Mile. I would say this is a very open race. As in the line-up, we have Beauty Flash, a proven performer who won his two previous races at top level; other up-and-coming runners like Algarve, who scored three winners this term; and Beauty Legend, who won brilliantly after stepped up to the mile for the first time in his last start. That's why I believe this Group 1 race will definitely bring great excitement to all racing fans.
But personally, I think Beauty Flash is the horse to beat in this race. Despite this classy runner was drawn wide in gate 14, he's capable to take a handy position or coming from behind and I still think he can overcome this draw and get a nice performance in this race. I also very much agree to his trainer Tony Cruz's view, when asked by media about the tactic in this race, that these big races are often decided by tactics and that's why it'd better not to reveal that before the race.
Beauty Legend – another horse owned by Beauty Flash's Owner Mr Kwok Siu-ming, and David Ferraris-trained Chater Way, which Douglas Whyte prefers over the Size's horses he has ridden, should also have chances to challenge Beauty Flash too. I would also take an eye on improving horses like our International Sale graduate Algarve, and South Africa import Cerise Cherry, who delivered an encouraging run in his first run in Hong Kong.
In the Bailey Handicap, I expect a strong showing of the very consistent Sunny King, who ran a runner-up in a Group 3 race last time. Special Days and Presto also performed promisingly in their previous start and they could also give a run in this 1400m race. But I think the most interesting horse is the German-bred Irian. The horse was previously owned by my close friend Baron von Ullmann, a breeder and owner of many world-class horses like Tiger Hill, Shirocco, Monsun, and European Horse of the Year Manduro. I think Irian will need this race but he is a potential Derby horse for me!
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