Although an amber rainstorm hit Hong Kong on Sunday morning, it didn’t deter the thousands of race fans who flocked to Sha Tin racecourse for our Season Opening. In fact, more than 74,000 people were trackside to ring in the 2018/19 season, the second-highest attendance figure for the first meeting of the season in over 20 years.
The day’s handle, at HK$1.253 billion, was also the second highest on record for a Season Opening, with commingling turnover also boosted from HK$104 million last year to HK$158 million on Sunday. That is a satisfying outcome, given there were 10 per cent less runners compared to last year. There was also the late withdrawal at the gates of Impeccable Fellow, which led to a HK$33 million refund. Without that refund, we would have been only 0.6 percent below last year’s record turnover for the Season Opening meeting.
I am optimistic in regards to our early predictions for the season, with a target of a three to four percent increase in turnover across the term.
Over the next month, I am expecting that we are likely to have smaller field sizes in some races. Our horse population is still at the level it has been for a number of years, from when we had 83 race meetings. We saw last year that it took some time for horses to return to racing after the summer break, with that trend even more pronounced this year.
However, with Conghua Racecourse now an active part of the Hong Kong racing system, we have been able to issue more permits. That means that we expect to see our horse population grow over the course of this season, which will ensure that we can fully support an 88-meeting season in the coming years.
It was good to see satisfactory performances from horses that had been based at Conghua Racecourse over the summer. The John Moore-trained Sea Pearl and Daring Fit for Paul O’Sullivan both performed well at their first run since returning from Conghua, finishing second. The feedback continues to be positive from the trainers who are based up there and I look forward to seeing more horses stepping out in the coming weeks with a stint at Conghua under their belt.
Tonight, there are six horses who will step out at Happy Valley, having spent some time at Conghua, including the Chris So-trained pair Lotus Breeze (race four) and Fairy Twins (race six), who were among the first shipment on 12 July. This information can now be found in our official race cards, as well as in a media release on declaration day. Each horse also has a Movement Record on their individual horse profile through the website, which shows when they have moved between the two centres.
I was also pleased to see new trainer Jimmy Ting and new Club Jockey Grant van Niekerk combine in the season’s first race, each getting their first winner with Triumphant Jewel. It was very encouraging and I think it’s extremely important for these two freshmen, who both scored doubles by the end of the day, to get off the mark so quickly. Fans will be eager to see if both Jimmy and Grant can extend their decent runs in our first Happy Valley race meeting of the season this evening.
Our popular Happy Wednesday meetings kick off tonight with plenty of action on and off the track. For the horses, there is the beginning of the Hong Kong Airlines Million Challenge, which will be staged until February with points up for grabs in all races at Class 3 level and above. For our fans, they will be able to get into the Happy Wednesday spirit all across the Valley, with the theme for the first two meetings being “Happy Wednesday is back” and a new theme song – It’s Another Happy Wednesday – set to spice up proceedings.
Among the eight races on tonight’s card, the Big Wave Bay Handicap is the Class 2 finale at 1200 metres with a field of 11 looking to put a quick score on the board in the chase for the Hong Kong Airlines Million Challenge. A good pace is expected with Magic Legend likely to go forward along with Cheerfuljet and dirt specialist Perpetual Treasure.
The top contenders in the race will be positioned around midfield with Fortune Booth as a win and place chance coming off his good form at the end of last season. He won first up last season and looked very sharp in his trial at Sha Tin at the Pre-season Carnival. Zac Purton takes the ride for trainer Michael Freedman.
Super Hoppy takes a step up into Class 2 tonight after consecutive wins at Happy Valley in Class 3 at the end of last season. This is a horse that looks much more effective over this course and distance and he is much improved. He is a place chance along with Bold Stitch and Fantastic Eight.
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