Leading jockey Zac Purton was unstoppable at Happy Valley on Wednesday night as he pulled off an awesome performance with four wins, while Joao Moreira drew a blank as he made his return from a suspension. It means Zac is now five wins clear at the top of the table with eight race meetings remaining. Zac has dominated Joao at Happy Valley by a 47-31 win margin but Joao has held a similar edge at Sha Tin, 70-55. The dirt track has been the decider with Zac owning a 19-15 advantage. Every remaining race meeting will have a huge impact on the championship and the Sha Tin turf is where the Magic Man must slow the incredible momentum of the Zac Attack to stay in the hunt.
Just like our top jockeys, there is little doubt that both of Hong Kong’s racecourses at Happy Valley and Sha Tin are now widely recognised as two of the best in the world. They are also considered must-see attractions for any visitor to Hong Kong. Both of our racecourses were recently awarded the “Certificate of Excellence” once again by TripAdvisor, one of the world’s most popular interactive travel websites. Our entry over consecutive years culminated in this year’s induction of both Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses into the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence Hall of Fame.
The ratings of Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses placed both within the Top 40 attractions in Hong Kong, with Happy Valley’s iconic mix of cityscape and turf ranking the track inside the Top 20, higher than other prime locations and events like the Hong Kong Sevens, Ngong Ping 360, Sky 100 and Lan Kwai Fong.
The high accolade, determined by visitors from all over the world, is a great compliment. Indeed, our Happy Wednesday night meetings at Happy Valley and our Sha Tin day meetings regularly attract an average of 18,000 and 30,000 attendees respectively, and there are very few other sporting events in Hong Kong that could regularly draw such an attendance. We thank all of our visitors for their admiration and our local racing fans for their support. All of us within the Club will continue to work hard, providing racegoers with world-class action and top-tier racing experiences on our tracks.
Another world-class event is now in action, as the 2018 FIFA World Cup has been underway in Russia since Thursday. I believe many of you have already soaked yourself in the football frenzy that arrives every four years. Some of you, and some of my friends, were also curious about my view on the chances of Germany in this World Cup.
We Germans refer to our team as Die Mannschaft, which represents their team spirit and symbolises the value of working together as a team to achieve results. But they did not have the most convincing preparation coming into this tournament, having scored just one win in their six previous matches, a narrow 2-1 victory against Saudi Arabia last Saturday. Statistics are not in favour of the defending champions, too – it is 56 years since the last team successfully defended their title, that being Brazil in 1962.
That said, veterans such as Manuel Neuer, Toni Kroos and Thomas Muller are still the lynchpins in our team. They could offer the much-needed guile, experience and guidance to new stars such as Julian Draxler, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich, who all produced superb performances when winning the Confederations Cup in Russia last year. Die Mannschaft has a proven record of improving in a tournament, especially when results are important to win that competition. I’m optimistic that they could at least reach the semi-finals and I hope they will have a bright start in their first group match against Mexico tomorrow night.
Back to racing, we will have eight turf races and two other all-weather track contests at Sha Tin this afternoon. Among them is The Hong Kong Riding For The Disabled Association Cup for Class 3 sprinters on the All Weather Track, which is Race 6. California Archer comes into race after a solid front-running, first-up run three weeks ago. This is his first try on the dirt but he trialed well over the course and distance in early May and has to use his speed along with Massive Pocket to help overcome their outside draws and make the running. The pace will be honest.
The race sets up nicely for Gameplayer Emperor, a horse that stepped up in his first try over the course and distance last month and should be well positioned midfield or better. He is a win and place chance. California Archer, despite drawing the outside, must be respected off his most recent effort and it looks like he will go well over the track. He is a place chance along with the likely favourite, Raging Blitzkrieg, with Joao Moreira riding. Though it is his first attempt over the course and distance, Raging Blitzkrieg has trialed well over the surface. Goldie Flanker is a four-time winner over the track and distance and is also a place chance.
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