We will host our regular racing fixture at Sha Tin tomorrow and will host a special ceremony and presentation for the Hong Kong Equestrian Team, who just returned to Hong Kong after completing their competition in the National Games in Tianjin earlier this week.
Our Club-sponsored riders earned some good results, landing a silver and a bronze medal in the National Games this year. Jacqueline Siu claimed a silver in the dressage individual event – which was Hong Kong’s first-ever dressage medal in the National Games, while Clarissa Lyra won a bronze medal in the individual jumping event. These results showed the competitiveness and depth of talents we now have in our team. So if you are in the racecourse tomorrow, please also come join us to cheer and show your appreciation for their achievements during the ceremony which will occur right after the presentation for our seventh race, the Kwangtung Handicap Cup.
Apart from Sha Tin, some of our attention also goes to our first two simulcast races of the season from Korea, as Lucky Year will contest the Korea Sprint and Circuit Land in the Korea Cup. Super Jockey brought us a first win at our first try in Korea last year. I will be in Seoul briefly for some meetings and their gala dinner tonight, but will return for our race meeting tomorrow and will be cheering them on from Hong Kong.
Before turning to our Sunday races, I also wanted to address the most unfortunate incident from our stables this week. We have 22 horse walkers in the stabling complexes and more than 800 horses use the walkers every day, sometimes even twice a day. In the 19 years I have been in Hong Kong I have not seen a major incident in relation to walking machines and definitely nothing like this incident. We have started a thorough investigation to try to determine what has caused this and will keep you informed of the outcome.
For the 10 races on Sha Tin’s card, the feature race of the day is the Class 1 Kwangtung Handicap Cup, which goes as race seven. The pace of this race is likely to be good with Winner’s Way potentially going to the lead. Romantic Touch and Solar Hei Hei are likely to be prominent with Jolly Banner tracking them. Magic Legend and Marvel Hero should settle behind midfield with Horse Of Fortune and Supreme Profit near the rear.
Magic Legend and Solar Hei Hei both raced last Sunday and should have some added fitness compared to their six rivals. Solar Hei Hei, with Matthew Poon riding, will carry just 106 pounds, enabling a difference between 7 and 27 pounds against the field. This combined with his solid run last week make him a win and place chance. Winner’s Way was a good second behind Thewizardofoz when he got his head-up around the turn and was a bit disrupted during that last race. His previous two wins on the lead were strong and I see him as my top win and place hope. Jolly Banner is incredibly consistent with 12 finishes in the first three from 15 Hong Kong starts and cannot be ignored.
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