The importance to Hong Kong of racing tourism continues to grow and we were delighted with the success of National Day Raceday at Sha Tin on Wednesday (1 October) when we hosted a raceday record number of tourists – 13,097, including 12,060 from the Chinese Mainland – underpinning our strategy of enhancing racecourse experiences for visitors from all over the world.
In collaboration with the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), the Club has worked tirelessly to create attractive tourism experiences by blending world-class racing with outstanding off-track entertainment and we were delighted with the way National Day Raceday was embraced by regular and first-time visitors to the racecourse.
With total attendance of 32,357 at Sha Tin, we hosted our largest National Day Raceday crowd since 2018 with a year-on-year increase of almost 40% while the number of Chinese Mainland attendees was a record 12,060, surpassing the 9,654 who attended the Chinese Lunar New Year meeting in February.
In terms of Chinese Mainland attendance alone, we had a year-on-year increase of more than 150% at the National Day Raceday and it validates our strategy to meld elite racing with performances from a variety of internationally acclaimed artists.
Renowned Chinese tenor Zhang Yingxi showed why he is one of the Chinese Mainland’s most revered artists with a wonderful performance for our guests in the Parade Ring. We were also privileged to watch the Chengdu dance group HOMIES, who entranced with its traditional Chinese face-changing art.
These performances set the tone for the day as attendees also availed themselves of myriad dining options at Sha Tin while enjoying an excellent afternoon of racing crowned by FAST NETWORK’S victory in the G3 National Day Cup Handicap (1000m) for Dennis Yip and Alexis Badel.
Hong Kong racing is scheduled to continue this Saturday (4 October) at Sha Tin where the feature race is the Class 2 High West Handicap, which is carded as Race 8 and will be run over 1650m on dirt for prizemoney of HK$3.12 million.
While I am in Paris for the annual International Conference of Horseracing Authorities on Monday (6 October), I am kept well informed with modern technology and in regular meetings with our staff in Hong Kong to assess the potential typhoon risk for our race meeting on Saturday.
Based on the current weather forecast, we are cautiously optimistic that we can hold the meeting but we have another formal review and risk assessment in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The pace will be good in the High West Handicap with TELECOM FIGHTERS (Angus Chung) likely to lead from gate one. SING DRAGON (Karis Teetan) and SOLEIL FIGHTER (Zac Purton) have drawn out and will go forward and settle in the leading division, while KEEFY (Matthew Poon) should also be prominent from gate four.
TALENTS AMBITION (Lyle Hewitson) is a course and distance specialist and ended last season on a winning note beating SOLEIL FIGHTER and TELECOM FIGHTERS. TALENTS AMBITION trialled well recently behind MY WISH and he is my win and place selection.
TALENTS AMBITION is one of three runners for trainer Mark Newnham, who is also represented by MOJAVE DESERT (Andrea Atzeni). MOJAVE DESERT easily accounted for ENDEARED over this course and distance on 21 September and he is a place chance from gate seven.
SOLEIL FIGHTER worked hard from a wide draw at Happy Valley over 1650m on 17 September to finish third to LO RIDER and ENCOUNTERED in a strong race. SOLEIL FIGHTER’s only run on the All Weather produced an excellent second to TALENTS AMBITION in May and, with the benefit of his first up run, SOLEIL FIGHTER is a place chance.
MR ASCENDENCY (Richard Kingscote) is a course and distance winner and can run well and HELENE FEELING (Harry Bentley) and KEEFY were in good form last season but are relatively unexposed on the All Weather under race conditions. CAPITAL DELIGHT (Vincent Ho) and SING DRAGON are very effective on the surface but are better suited over 1200m.
On Sunday (5 October), the Club will simulcast Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Day at ParisLongchamp Racecourse with the first of eight races carded as S1-1 at 7.40pm. The G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is carded as S1-4 and will be run over 2400m at 10.05pm. The Arc is one of the highlights of the international racing season and has extremely important implications from a breeding perspective. With the potential for more rain, I would advise closely monitoring the conditions.
MINNIE HAUK (Christophe Soumillon) is unbeaten in four runs this season and her connections decided to supplement the triple Oaks winner with a late entry fee of €121,000 (approx. HK$1.1 million). MINNIE HAUK has drawn barrier one and, while ZARKAVA was the last horse to win from the inside gate in 2008, it is pertinent to note that since 1988, 24 of the 38 winners have started from gates two to seven, indicating inside barriers are advantageous.
MINNIE HAUK is a win and place selection and, being by FRANKEL out of a DANSILI mare, has shown she can handle soft ground.
AVENTURE (Maxime Guyon) ran second in last year’s Arc to BLUESTOCKING and is the hardest to beat in a very open field.
Japan has three runners – BYZANTINE DREAM (Oisin Murphy), CROIX DU NORD (Yuichi Kitamura) and ALOHI ALII (Christophe Lemaire) – and all three have acclimatised well in France with victories and are also strong chances.
Master trainer Andre Fabre is represented by SOSIE (Stephane Pasquier) and CUALFICAR (William Buick) and both should be considered along with KALPANA (Colin Keane) and DARYZ (Mickael Barzalona).
I would like to wish Andrea Atzeni the best of luck on G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase winner GIAVELLOTTO, who would prefer firm ground but is a place chance on his best form.
The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) on Monday (6 October) will examine host of important issues at the International Conference of Horseracing Authorities in Paris.
Racing faces a number of challenges and opportunities and the conference will focus on a range of topics with presentations from world-renowned experts on equine welfare, marketing, racing wagering, technology, consumer behaviours, the growth in illegal betting and tackling challenges in betting regulation.
We started our meetings today (Friday, 3 October) with the Asian Racing Federation Executive Council meeting followed by multiple meetings of major sub-committees of the IFHA, which will be followed by the Arc Raceday and the IFHA Annual General Meeting and the International Conference itself.
Due to a potential air traffic control strike in Paris on Tuesday (7 October), I will have to leave Paris at the conclusion of our Monday meetings and drive to Frankfurt to take a plane to Hong Kong to be back in time for the Happy Wednesday race meeting at Happy Valley on 8 October for the start of our Oktoberfest celebrations.
This aside, I look forward to discussing all of these relevant horseracing issues – and more – with international colleagues who share a strong and abiding passion for our sport.
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