I am happy to report we had a most successful week here in Hong Kong having just completed the first Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum. The Forum brought together some of the world’s foremost leaders on the topic. In his keynote address, esteemed Harvard professor Michael Porter spoke eloquently of the need to focus on collaboration and connectivity, suggesting there is a significant need to be strategic and willing to engage stakeholders, especially business, and adopt an integrated approach with government, business and philanthropy working together to identify and address social needs. Other key highlights included a discussion from Tencent founder and CEO Pony Ma and Rip Rapson, president and CEO of the Kresge Foundation, talking about where east meets west in philanthropic developments.
The conference attracted 1,300 delegates, 60 speakers, 100 NGO representatives plus 52 foundations. It was a great pleasure for me to give the closing remarks at the Forum. Many speakers and delegates are highly complimentary of our event, seeing this as a wonderful platform for the exchange and further development of philanthropy in Asia. They encouraged us to have this Forum on a regular basis, something which will exhibit Hong Kong as a global hub for knowledge exchange and collaboration in the field of philanthropy.
My thanks to all the speakers, the tremendous support from local government, our corporate and media partners and the Club’s Charities team – not to mention the delegates – who all made the Forum such a success.
Over on the racing side, following Zac Purton’s four wins at Sha Tin last Sunday, it was the turn for another Australian jockey Nash Rawiller, as he equaled Zac’s feat with a quartet of his own at Happy Valley. It was also the very first time for Nash to do so in his three seasons of riding here in Hong Kong.
Nash is a very talented and hardworking jockey. Being a multiple champion from Sydney and the regular partner of past champions such as Elvstroem and Pierro, it’s not a surprise to see him getting such a terrific result that night.
In the past few seasons, there are many top Australian jockeys riding in Hong Kong, both for long-term and short-term. Apart from Zac and Nash, Hugh Bowman is another rider from Down Under who enjoyed success here, most notably when he partnered Werther to complete a double in the BMW Hong Kong Derby and Audemars Piguet QEII Cup last season.
I believe those racing fans who closely follow overseas news would know that Bowman notched another major success in Sydney last week, having won the G1 George Main Stakes aboard Winx. This is the 11th consecutive victory for this Australian supermare and I look forward to watching her aim to extend this hot streak when she contests the Cox Plate at Moonee Valley next month, which will be part of our simulcast offerings next month.
Before then, we turn our attention back to Sha Tin, where the feature is our tenth race, the Ventris Handicap, a Class 2, over 1400m. Precision King and Flying Moochi are the two most likely to go forward, with Flying Moochi the probable leader. Friends Of Ka Ying should take a good forward spot on the rails. Meanwhile, Circuit Land will get the in-form Nash Rawiller aboard. California Disegno should be in the first half of the field, along with Ultimate Glory, but both are at risk of ending up wide. Winston’s Lad and Consort are both tough to place on the speed map, with Consort being tough to place given his various past runs.
This is a very open race with many chances. I like Circuit Land most having the benefit of a good first-up run where he came off the heels of a horse in front of him when closing at the 250m point. He is working well and will be well-positioned behind the leader. Merion ran on strongly in his last start and even though he will have to come from the back, is a win and place chance for me. Flying Moochi won very impressively last time out and is also a win and place chance despite the penalty of six pounds for his last win. Hero Look is working well and should finish strongly for a place. The same applies for Pikachu who has the benefit of a good last start performance, and should be a place chance too.
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