Five days after Sha Tin staged a magnificent season finale on Sunday (14 July), it is difficult to imagine a more perfect script than the one which unfolded as Francis Lui and Pierre Ng vied for the Hong Kong trainers’ championship.
To consider that after 88 world-class meetings spread across 10 months of racing, the fate of the championship would still be undecided until the 831st race is simply incredible. On a day when the tension built steadily, the fortunes of Francis and Pierre ebbed and flowed until the last 100 metres of the very last race.
The suspense created by Francis and Pierre’s tussle for the championship proved once again that Hong Kong horse racing is not merely about gambling. The sporting significance of what unfolded on Sunday created an extraordinary sense of theatre and entertainment.
For Pierre to lead the championship for virtually every week since November 5 – only briefly surrendering the ascendancy in that time to Francis – and to lead by three wins with only six races left in the season and to lose the title race by one, 70-69, is undoubtedly disappointing for the impressive young trainer.
Given the elite standards Pierre set in only his second season of training, it required something exceptional to deny him the championship and Francis – Pierre’s former master – produced exactly that with four wins in the last five races of the 2023/24 season with the victories of STEPS AHEAD, CHANCHENG GLORY, PACKING HERMOD and PATCH OF THETA in the final race of the season.
I would like to congratulate both Francis and Pierre for their wonderful performances, which again underline the value of the Club’s development pathways for our finest talents. Both Francis and Pierre graduated through the Hong Kong racing ranks, learning their craft from the very best trainers available and, when given their opportunities, proving they are also among the best in the world.
The nerve-wracking battle between Francis and Pierre was the perfect way to end what has been a glorious season for Hong Kong racing. The on-course atmosphere on Sunday and the response of more than 30,000 racing fans – including a record more than 6,000 Mainland visitors – was amazing and showed what world-class racing means to this amazing city.
The atmosphere at Sha Tin on Sunday was very special and underlined horse racing’s appeal in Hong Kong, just as Happy Valley remains a destination of choice with its tremendous vibe with the energy of the world-famous Beer Garden’s entertainment programmes in combination with our world-class racing.
The passion among our fans was palpable and helped make the day even more incredible, reinforcing once more the importance of Hong Kong racing as an outstanding mode of entertainment and competition with our roster of outstanding trainers and jockeys and, of course, our champion horses.
Over the past week, we have paid homage to Hong Kong’s equine stars, including ROMANTIC WARRIOR, CALIFORNIA SPANGLE and GOLDEN SIXTY and, with victories in 13 of the world’s most important Group 1 races, our best horses continue to flourish on the international stage.
Apart from a decorated established guard of champions, we have several exciting upcoming horses such as GALAXY PATCH, KA YING RISING, INVINCIBLE SAGE, MASSIVE SOVEREIGN and HELIOS EXPRESS who are poised to progress to the next level.
The emergence of fresh talent is critical to the ongoing success of Hong Kong racing and it was pleasing that an enhanced PP Bonus scheme to encourage owners to acquire quality horses saw HK$88.5 million in bonuses distributed to 59 newly-imported PPs who were successful in winning races this season, including the 2024 BMW Hong Kong Derby winner MASSIVE SOVEREIGN.
I am pleased with the increase of Mainland attendance this season to more than 90,000 and our engagement with passionate Mainland racing fans is a priority especially with the development of Conghua Racecourse (CRC). With the completion of new double-storey stable, CRC’s capacity has increased from 660 to more than 1,000 horses, which will further support the development of the next generation of world-class racehorses.
The construction of an iconic grandstand, which topped-out this season, is well underway. With a capacity of 9,500, it will provide an unparalleled customer experience for Mainland and Hong Kong fans, visitors and guests when racing starts there in 2026.
I would like to congratulate Zac Purton on winning his seventh Hong Kong jockeys’ championship with 130 wins for the season and, with 1,740 career victories in Hong Kong, he is now needs 73 more wins to reach Douglas Whyte’s all-time record of 1,813.
The effort of Angus Chung to win the Tony Cruz Award for the best-performed homegrown jockey with 46 wins for the season is a wonderful achievement for a young man, who is extremely determined and willing to listen to great mentors including Tony Cruz himself, Felix Coetzee and other senior riding figures.
I would like to thank all participants – Members, owners, trainers and jockeys – as well as our passionate, driven and dedicated Club teams across a variety of areas who worked tirelessly to make this season such a success.
Just a few days after the season finale, we held a Town Hall meeting with the Club’s management team to outline what we want to do to ensure a good start to the new season with the planning of which is well underway and to also thank our teams for their tremendous dedication and to celebrate our achievement of an amazing season. Furthermore, we reviewed areas in which we want to do better and prepare for a successful start of the 2024/25 season.
The 2023/24 season was unforgettable in several aspects, not least its closing day. I want to thank all of our fans and especially my blog readers for their support. I look forward to seeing all of our loyal supporters back at Sha Tin and Happy Valley next season and I hope you enjoy our world-class simulcast programme in the meantime with a number of outstanding European meetings over the summer.
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