Yesterday, I had the pleasure of joining the ceremony to kick off the 40th Anniversary celebrations for Ocean Park, and to receive a plaque of appreciation from Ocean Park on behalf of the Club. Ocean Park opened in 1977 following HK$150 million in funding from the Charities Trust and its operations were funded by the Club for its first ten years. Since opening, more than 130 million people have visited to enjoy its diverse selection of world-class marine attractions, thrill rides and shows and what is, overall, a fantastic blend of entertainment with education and conservation.
Ten years after its launch, Ocean Park became its own not-for-profit statutory body with its own Board appointed by the Government, and the Club granted an endowment of HK$200 million to ensure its financial stability. To date, the Club’s Charities Trust has funded over HK$736 million towards its development and operation.
Over the years, Ocean Park has hosted some tremendous projects. One that sticks out for me was the establishment of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Giant Panda Habitat as the home for An An and Jia Jia, two pandas who really captured the hearts of many in Hong Kong. In October, Jia Jia passed at the age of 38, having been the world’s oldest giant panda to have lived under human care. Since those two pandas arrived, nearly 20% of the more than 800,000 students attending a session through Ocean Park Academy chose a panda-related course. An An is still at Ocean Park and is the world’s second oldest male giant panda in human care. Coming in 2017, the Trust-sponsored “Jockey Club Giant Panda Junior Volunteer Programme” will offer training and visits to Sichuan for student volunteers, and I’m sure the panda presence at Ocean Park will continue to captivate future generations.
I offer my congratulations to the whole team at Ocean Park for 40 magnificent years and look forward to more success in the years to come.
Even though we do not have a Cup race tonight at Happy Valley, we have two Class 2 races, and the last race of today is the Choi Hung Handicap over 1200m with a rating band of 95 to 75 which makes some Class 3 horses eligible to enter.
The pace is expected to be good which should, on the B-track, give every horse a chance to perform well. Sea Jade is back at Happy Valley and should go forward while Charity Joy is likely to work forward and settle prominently. Triumphant Jewel, Molly’s Jade Star and Happy Yeah Yeah all should settle in tracking positions, with Happy Yeah Yeah in danger of being wide. Blocker Dee should be midfield behind these with Golden Harvest and Verbinsky nearby. Dragon General normally goes forward, but those tactics could change tonight as he is drawn widest of all.
Sea Jade is working well and with his recent form is a win and place chance but he is not a “sure thing” despite his impressive wins over course and distance because, as a 3 year old, he is going up to Class 2 and running against proven Class 2 horses and he likely will not get an easy lead in this race like in his last races around the Valley.
Verbinsky is in very good form too and his track work is very good. The expected good pace should help him and he is my first selection for a win and place. Molly’s Jade Star is another chance for a win or place in my assessment and making use of Kei Chiong’s five-pound claim for his second effort in Class 2, along with being ridden forward, should help.
Happy Surveys, Golden Harvest and Blocker Dee are proven Class 2 horses which one should not underestimate, but I see them as horses for a placing or potential inclusions in the quartet.
Comment
