COVID-19 has had a dreadful impact on global welfare and, much like SARS several years ago, the virus shows how closely connected human health is with that of animals.
As such, equine and human welfare remains one of the Club’s priorities and the Hong Kong Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences at City University of Hong Kong aims to address precisely this issue.
An innovation in Hong Kong medicine, its underlying concept – “One Health” – is that we need to take a holistic view of human and animal health. Through multi-disciplinary research, bringing together both veterinary medicine and bio-medical sciences, the College will contribute to Hong Kong’s on-going efforts to prevent and control infectious diseases.
From 2023, the College will have a state-of-the-art home in The Jockey Club One Health Tower. Constructed with a HK$500 million donation from the Club, work on the superstructure has just started. I look forward to its opening and to the important work the College will do to protect our community and strengthen its resilience in facing future challenges.
Donations to medical and health are one of the key areas the Club focuses on to address social needs and the club made a HK$500 million donation in 2003 following the SARS outbreak to set up the Centre for Health Protection to support the Government to find longer-term solutions to disease control – that work is now instrumental in the fight against COVID.
As the Club continues to monitor biosecurity issues, the countdown to the BMW Hong Kong Derby is well and truly underway and the emergence last Sunday of Silver Express as a legitimate contender for John Size adds yet another layer of intrigue to the 21 March Classic.
The quality of Silver Express’ impressive win over 1400m in slick time – his sectional between the 1200m and 800m was 21.79s and he still managed to run away from the field – was reflected in a 10-point rise in the handicap ratings.
While it was an eye-catching display of sustained speed over 1400m, it is worth remembering there is plenty of stamina in Silver Express’ pedigree, particularly through the female line with both his dam and second dam winning over 2200m.
At 89, Silver Express slots into a bracket of likely candidates headed by Sky Darci (103), Excellent Proposal (101), Healthy Happy (101), Shadow Hero (100), Tourbillon Diamond (98), Lucky Express (97) and Russian Emperor (97).
With only 18 days to the BMW Derby at Sha Tin, several horses could enhance their position with a strong performance in the Class 2 over 1800m this Sunday (7 March) – including Berlin Tango (88), Conqueror (87), Maximus (83), Sea Of Life (83), Celestial Power (83), Super Football (83) and Tsar (82).
The Derby remains the most coveted race on the Hong Kong racing calendar and this season, unlike last year when Golden Sixty triumphed as a 1.7 favourite, the race remains wide open. On Sunday, the puzzle might be simplified – or become even more challenging.
One of the more interesting trends to emerge in the 2020/21 season has been the number of horses to travel directly from Conghua Racecourse and Training Centre to Hong Kong and win.
As of last Sunday’s Sha Tin meeting, 91 horses have won exactly 100 races in Hong Kong after returning from Conghua. All For St Paul’s brought up the century of victories with a tenacious performance.
On Wednesday night, the first section of the Class 3 Canal Handicap is the final race of the programme with last-start winners Savaquin (Zac Purton) and Sunny Star (Alexis Badel) the main contenders over 1650m – and it might also have Derby ramifications.
The pace will be slow with Turquoise Alpha (Keith Yeung), Farshad (Karis Teetan) and Heavenly Thought (Matthew Poon) likely to do the early work, though none of the three is a natural leader.
Savaquin has come to hand for trainer John Size and the Derby entry has won his last two races with solid closing sectionals. He will go back from his wide draw and he overcame a wide draw and slow pace to win two starts back. He is a strong place chance and a win should be good enough to earn him a place in the Derby.
Sunny Star has run well when introduced to the course and distance over his last two starts and should enjoy a tactical advantage of being midfield. He is a win and place chance in his current form after a relatively easy win in this grade three weeks ago.
Gift of Lifeline (Ruan Maia) is well drawn to get a nice run and is a place chance along with Farshad.
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