Our Mark Six draw has become the talk of the town over the past few days. With a whopping jackpot of HK$85 million available last night, three units of lucky winners have won the top prize and shared this great bonus, with each claimed a unit prize of HK$44.5 million. I would like to congratulate these few winners as they are certainly the luckiest Mark Six winners among all.
But my attention also goes to the massive contributions generated from this single draw, as we have attributed total duty revenues of HK$85 million to the Government’s treasury, while another HK$51 million went to the Lotteries Fund. Both figures are record highs and I’m delighted to see the local public to offer great support to the lottery. So that more money can go to the public coffer and charities to assist those in need.
The Club's Mark Six betting, as well as its racing and football betting, are designed to meet the public demand for gaming through a legal, regulated and responsible channel that returns the surpluses to the local community in the form of tax revenue and charity donation.
A similar situation applies in Singapore, where the Singapore Turf Club has been the sole authorised channel for horse race betting for several decades. But in the past couple of years, the Singapore Government has taken a somewhat new direction by authorising the establishment of two major casino resorts at Sentosa and Marina Bay. Since going into operation last year, they have injected new momentum into the Singapore economy and helped steer the city's tourism development to a new level.
The city state has also added many new family attractions in recent years like the Singapore Flyer, and revitalised the historic Clarke Quay and Boat Quay into vibrant restaurant, bar and nightlife areas. These have helped make it a growingly popular family destination for people in south-east Asia, including many of us in Hong Kong. There is plenty for sports fans to enjoy, too, with the Singapore Grand Prix – the only night race on the Formula 1 calendar – in late September and, of course, regular horse racing at Kranji.
In keeping with the city's rapid development, Singapore racing has grown appreciably in strength and status in recent years. In particular, the emergence of Rocket Man as a top level international sprinter has put Singapore firmly on the global racing map, drawing interest from fans of our sport all over the world. This is well reflected in the city's flagship raceday, the Singapore Airlines International Cup meeting, which has attracted more and more top-class overseas entries in the past few years.
This year's Singapore Airlines International Cup and KrisFlyer International Sprint will be run tomorrow night, and will include four strong contenders from Hong Kong. Both the past two KrisFlyer Sprints have gone to Hong Kong horses, Sacred Kingdom and Green Birdie, and both horses have made the trip again to bid for a repeat success in this race. But first, they have to get once again past home favourite Rocket Man, who has lost out narrowly in the past two years but looks this time to be in stronger form than ever.
As regards the Singapore Airlines International Cup, no Hong Kong horse has yet been able to land this S$3 million race, but this year's contenders California Memory and Irian have both performed impressively at the same race distance of 2000m this season, so maybe this could be our year to do it.
I’ve also studied on these two races and in the KrisFlyer International Sprint, it’s a real Group 1 sprint event with Rocket Man being the favourite that will be very difficult to beat. He is at the top of his game as a 5-year-old with impeccable form, and his track work is very impressive. I am optimistic that Sacred Kingdom can give him a run for the money, as well as Green Birdie, but to beat Rocket Man will be a difficult task for them. Better Be The One is an upcoming 4-year-old with a great performance in Dubai, finished third in the Group 2 Al Quoz Sprint. I think he has also had a chance to finish in the top three.
The Singapore Airlines International Cup should se a strong performance of Hong Kong horses and I am optimistic that California Memory can establish him further on the international stage after his good second in the APQEII Cup. He lost some weight on the flight but has made it back and seems to be back to his best. I expect a strong performance of Irian, too, but he can have his off days and I recommend you all to pay a close attention on how he looks in the parade ring, and I hope he does not boil over. The strongest challenge to the Hong Kong horses will come from Presvis who ran very well on a shorter distance in the BMW Champions Mile over 1600m, but he will certainly be a strong force over the 2000m in Singapore.
As you might expect, I will be at Kranji tomorrow night to giving my support to these Hong Kong runners - and that will mean rushing to the airport at the end of today's Sha Tin race meeting to catch the late flight to Singapore.
The 10 races on today’s card, however, look to be quite exciting. Although there will just be eight runners participating in today’s feature race the ATV Cup, it remains to be a very good Class 1 race with the highest rating band of 120 to 100 as it attracted a good quality field. The expected pace should be good to slow at best, which gives horses at the front a little advantage but with the small field size this should be only a minor disadvantage for horses at the back because they will be only have to make up around three to four lengths, instead of around six lengths in a full field.
Sight Winner will most likely be the leader of the race. His recent form in Group races has been good, I expect him to be competitive despite carrying the top weight in this race. Unfortunately, he has to compete against some rising stars such as Let Me Fight, Admiration, and last but not least, Destined For Glory who all come from John Moore's stable. Admiration is back to his best and his last piece of work was exceptional and he will be on the pace. Though he’s just a 3-year-old, but he’s my choice over Destined For Glory, who is an upcoming 4-year-old with nice prospects. Destined for Glory is working well and will come with a strong run from the back, but as he has to come back in distance from 2000m in his last start in the APQEII Cup, that’s for me the reason why I prefer Admiration more in this mile event.
Tonight we will also simulcast the Abu Dhabi Irish 2000 Guineas for racing fans in Hong Kong. Even I may not catch up the race in time after arriving Singapore, I will still be interested to see if Dubawi Gold, who was beaten by the extraordinary Frankel for second in the English 2000 Guineas, can made amends for his previous defeat by winning in this Group 1 event. So please stay tune for our simulcasts from Ireland and Singapore tonight and tomorrow.
Comment
