Fans of Manchester United and Manchester City should be delighted recently as their beloved squads enjoyed promising starts for the season. It is especially pleasing to see Manchester United with this strong start given their being a great partner of the Club in promoting football here in Hong Kong. Both teams share the top spot in the English Premier League currently and showed great firepower in their attacks, coincidentally scoring 16 goals in each of their first five league matches.
Things were not as rosy for Spanish champions Real Madrid, however, as they suffered their first league defeat of the season to Real Betis in the midweek, and are now trailing their arch-rivals Barcelona by seven points. It’s a significant gap and all Real fans would hope they improve their performance as the season progresses.
For Hong Kong football, today at the Mongkok Stadium we will also host our annual flagship football event, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Cup. The main match will feature reigning champions Kitchee and last season’s runners-up Eastern. The local season has been under way for some time and so most players have been in a decent match form. It should be an exciting match to our spectators. Of course there is also a significant charity component to the game too, with the net proceeds from the match being donated to charities nominated by the participating teams.
While I regret I will not be able to enjoy the match in person today, I hope you take the chance to enjoy the fun. The action begins at 3pm with the HKJC Girls’ Community Cup and is followed by the second annual exhibition game commencing at 3.50pm and featuring many of our local jockeys along with some local football legends. I wish everyone a most successful day.
Tomorrow, the jockeys will be back to the horses for our 10-race meeting at Sha Tin, the feature of which is the Class 2 Yuen Long Handicap which goes as the last race of the day over the A course. The pace is projected to be good to slow. Joyful Moments could go to the lead under Matthew Chadwick and might not get much pressure. Jolly Jolly has the widest draw and may be hustled by Zac Purton to take up a close position early as this pair did two starts ago when also drawn wide. Solar Hei Hei and California Whip could go forward and Healthy Joyful might as well, though he could be at risk of being caught wide. Midnight Rattler is likely to track the speed with Baba Mama and Hang’s Decision in midpack. Mongolian King could be midpack or farther back along with Encounter. Rickfield, Citron Spirit and Keen Venture often do their running from well off the pace.
Trainer Me Tsui is off to a fast start with eight wins in the first six meetings and Mongolian King is in top form. He has another good draw for Umberto Rispoli and is a chance of winning for the second time this season, and though the pace might not suit him, he is a major chance for a win. Baba Mama might be a bit closer to the pace than last time, draws Joao Moreira this time, and is my main win and place chance. Solar Hei Hei is very consistent and ran well when second to Mongolian King at our season opening meeting and was solid when fourth in Class 1 last time. He is a placing hope once again. Jolly Jolly has 14 total finishes in the top three from 19 starts, and must be respected even with his wide draw. He trialed well two weeks ago and is a placing chance, though he might not be at full fitness yet. California Whip should also enjoy a better trip than his last start and could improve.
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