Last weekend, we simulcast the New Zealand Derby from Ellerslie Racecourse in Auckland back to Hong Kong. We all witnessed a very happy and special moment as Hong Kong connections snatched a one-two finish in this NZ$2.2 million (HK$12m) Group 1 event. The race winner Military Move is owned by businessman Steven Lo, who is also the convenor of South China Football Club, while the runner-up Corporal Jones belongs to the Paul O'Sullivan Racing Syndicate in Hong Kong, and was ridden by our Club jockey Zac Purton.
Coincidentally, Steven was at Sha Tin Racecourse that day, and he told me it's great to watch the race live and his horse winning from our simulcast. Steven said the victory came as a big surprise for him, and he's now targeting the horse for the Australian Derby next month. I was delighted for him, too, as like me he's passionate about both football and horse racing, and this massive victory is a deserved reward for his enthusiasm. Given to this emphatic performance, I've invited Steven to import this horse into Hong Kong and he also told me he would consider that, too. I believe many racing fans will also look forward to seeing the performances of Military Move, or even Corporal Jones, on our home turf in the future.
As happened in this occasion, I'm delighted that our simulcast race gave our Owners a chance to see their horses perform in major races without having to leave Hong Kong. But more importantly, we always hope to let our local racing fans follow the action live when our top horses are competing in major events overseas.
Some of you may know that we applied to the Government last week to move our race day later this month from Saturday 27 to Sunday 28 March, so as to match our simulcast arrangements. At the moment, this is still pending the Government's approval.
In our original plan, we hoped to simulcast four races from the Dubai World Cup raceday, as our top miler Good Ba Ba will be running in the Dubai Duty Free, while our sprinter One World contesting in the Dubai Golden Shaheen, in the early hours of that Sunday. Then later the same day - all as part of a single non-raceday simulcast – we will also be bringing you the Takamatsunomiya Kinen from Japan, a race in which Sacred Kingdom and Ultra Fantasy will be participating. However, we have since learned that Joy And Fun will be running in the Al Quoz Sprint in Dubai, and obviously racing fans will look forward to watching that race, too.
This makes things quite a lot more complicated, as the starting time of the Al Quoz Sprint falls on Saturday late evening, Hong Kong time, which is a regular raceday. If we stick to a Saturday day meeting and add this single race, then under the current rules, the other four Dubai races will also count as part of the same raceday simulcast. While we are only allowed to bring you 10 simulcast races a season in total on regular racedays, so by doing this we would use up five of the season's quota at one go. Thereby, it could possibly sacrifice planned raceday simulcasts later this season, such as the Singapore Airlines International Cup and KrisFlyer International Sprint in May, and the Yasuda Kinen in June – the few races which draw great attention among our racing fans in Hong Kong. That's why we have made a request to the Government in moving the raceday accordingly.
The current differing rules between raceday and non-raceday simulcasts, coupled with time zone differences which means that one overseas raceday sometimes spans two days in Hong Kong - poses certain constraints to our simulcast operation. I hope that in due course we can have the chance to discuss this issue further with the Government and find ways to make the simulcast rules more flexible in the future.
While we'll be working on it with the Government, the focus is firmly back on domestic racing at Happy Valley tonight and we will be hosting the Starry Wednesday Party at racecourse as well. As a lead-in programme ahead of the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby this Sunday, we will preview our Derby star runners this year, and present an on-site exhibition at Happy Valley to review some of the past Derby heroes and memorable events. So I hope you will enjoy our arrangement and have a great time this evening.
Among the eight-race programme, I shall be especially watching the performance of Dumbarton Rock in the East Point Handicap. Being lightly raced this term, this five-year-old runner still snatched a winner and a runner-up finish in his last two starts. With a good and slow pace expected for this race, I think it will favour this frontrunner and I'll see if he can get a good result in this 1800m event tonight. Ambitious General, who scored his maiden win in Hong Kong in the same distance earlier this season, and Legend, who will be running in an extended distance after his victory at the mile last start, should be the main rivals of Dumbarton Rock in this race.
In the Jardine Handicap, both Merry Way and Master Rio performed nicely in a 1200m race last time. They will be competing at the same distance tonight and I think they will be the leading contenders of this event. For Perfect Gear, he will be making his first appearance in a Class 3 race, carrying 17 pounds less than he did last time. Given to his recent form and consistency at Happy Valley, I think he will be an interesting challenger in this race. With the expected good pace, I think it should also help a closer like North Hill coming from off the pace for a close finish.
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