I hope you enjoyed a good time with family on Mother’s Day last Sunday. Yet again, the Club hosted an enjoyable event for all at the Tuen Mun Public Riding School on the same day with more than 5,000 people joining us for the annual open day there. Guests participated in various riding-related activities and learned more about horses and equestrian sports. It is great to see this event popular as ever and so well-received by many parents and children.
Both Zac Purton and John Size experienced wonderful days at the office at Sha Tin last weekend. Zac was on fire as he completed a five-timer – his second ever in Hong Kong, matching his mark from October 2014 – and he managed three close seconds in his four non-winning rides. Hot King Prawn provided Zac with his first winner of the day and it was the first win in a double for our reigning Champion Trainer, John Size, who added another when Ivictory won later in the day. This double gave John a personal best of 78 wins in a season, and puts him closer to a ninth title in Hong Kong.
Tonight at the Valley we will continue our French themed midweek meetings with our annual French Day, which is also one of the major events of the Le French May festival this year. This is the ninth year for the Club and Consulate General of France to jointly present this special race meeting to our fans and we also welcome our racing counterparts from France Galop tonight. The Club has a long and storied connection to French racing and we celebrate that history this evening.
Apart from the exciting races, racegoers can enjoy a dedicated French arts performance, as well as various delicacies and fine French wines on course. I hope you can come out and soak up the Gallic atmosphere at the racecourse tonight.
Tonight’s seventh race is the France Galop Cup, a Class 2 Handicap over 1200m, and has drawn a full field of 12. The pace should be good to fast as Sea Jade and Sky Hero are both likely to go forward while Molly’s Jade Star, Blocker Dee and Premiere all typically sit just behind the early lead. Verbinsky and Romantic Cash could settle midfield, with Perpetual Treasure possibly settling wide. Jetwings and Hit The Bid are anticipated to be mid-division or farther back, with Super Turbo and Happy Surveys near the rear.
Jetwings and Super Turbo are both going very well in their track work and should be benefitted by the strong pace. I rate both as win and place chances, with a narrow edge to Jetwings. Premiere is a place chance and has run his best races at Happy Valley this season when winning three straight over 1000m, but will have to manage a good trip from a wide draw. Blocker Dee is a course specialist with all four of his Hong Kong wins coming over 1200m at Happy Valley. He gets back to his preferred venue and is a strong placing chance under top weight.
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