Hi, I hope you’re all having a pleasant time this summer. Although I’m in Europe I’m still closely following all the latest racing news, both on this continent and of course in Hong Kong.
I think most of you will have read the news about Vincent Ho’s participation in the 2011 Asian Young Guns Challenge held at Flemington Racecourse last Saturday. Vincent scored a winner aboard his first ride that day and eventually finished third in the Challenge. His mount didn’t see daylight until the final stages of the race he won, but he rode a cool race full of confidence and landed an impressive victory.
I was told that in the track-familiarisation session last Thursday morning before the Challenge, in which the young jockeys walked the Flemington course, Vincent was the most professional of all in trying to find the best ground, calculating distance to the first turn from the starts of his races and generally getting the feel of the track.
Our Chief Stipendiary Steward Kim Kelly, who was at Flemington last Saturday, told me that every horseman he spoke to was most impressed with Vincent and the quality of his riding. These remarks are very encouraging to both Vincent and the Club, as it once again shows that our policy of grooming local talent into racing professionals is well advanced and well recognised. I believe this was a very good experience for Vincent and I'm pleased he represented Hong Kong so well. I hope our reigning Champion Apprentice will continue to improve in the future.
Vincent’s good performance in the Asian Young Guns Challenge will also have an encouraging effect on the many young people who have applied to become Racing Trainees through the Club’s latest recruitment campaign. The applications closed on 5 August and the recruitment has attracted over 400 applications. The Club’s Racing Development Board will carefully select a limited number who show potential to join a 36-week foundation training programme starting in September. I hope the successful candidates will treasure their chance to develop racing careers in Hong Kong.
As regards other recent developments in Hong Kong, I feel very pleased that in the past week I've received quite a number of supportive e-mails from our customers on topical issues. Several have written to express their support for the Club’s new iPhone App and compliment us on this initiative. Some have also said they hope the Club will introduce an App for Android users in the near future. I can tell you that we are working hard on this.
I’m equally pleased that there’s been a lot of support for two issues I mentioned in earlier blog postings – our being unable to offer simulcasts of top European races during the summer break, and the Government’s strange decision demanding the Club to make special application for taking bets on the final of the Barclays Asia Trophy. Both of these restrictions simply play into the hands of illegal bookmakers. I want to thank you all for voicing your opinions, and I hope that your support will help us get these matters reviewed, in the best interests of Hong Kong.
Going back to international racing, I think the news that shocked me most over the past week has been the announcement by trainer Richard Hannon that the owners of star miler Canford Cliffs have decided to retire their horse to stud.
The news came after this four-year-old was defeated by the mighty superstar Frankel in the G1 Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood last month, after which he was found to be suffering a leg injury. From his lifetime record – seven wins and four placings in 11 starts, including five victories at Group 1 level – you can see how consistent this young horse has been in his illustrious career. Let’s see if he will be equally successful in his future career as a stallion. I believe many racing fans will be hoping to see his progeny racing in Hong Kong in a few years’ time, particularly after Canford Cliffs’ defeat of the great Goldikova at Royal Ascot.
While one stellar European miler has left the spotlight, Goldikova herself remains strongly competitive at the highest level as she showed when winning her 14th Group 1 title in the Prix Rothschild at Deauville a fortnight ago. It was great watching her getting her fourth consecutive victory in this G1 event for fillies and mares. Though this supermare is now six years of age, she still shows no significant sign of being past her peak. But anyway, I believe her record in winning more Group 1 titles than any other champion will last for a long time and be very hard for others to break.
Her trainer Freddie Head once mentioned his interest in racing the great mare in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile in December before she finally retires from racing. I think many local racing fans will, like me, be eagerly waiting to see whether that challenge materialises at the end of the year.
This weekend, I will be at Deauville Racecourse to attend the Hong Kong Jockey Club Day which will be held on Sunday. It is the third year in which France Galop has hosted two races in the name of our Club, namely the Group 3 Prix Gontaut Biron Hong Kong Jockey Club and the handicap Prix du Hong Kong Jockey Club.
This marks the ever-closer ties that now exist between French and Hong Kong racing. Many of our friends in France Galop, French trainers and jockeys will attend the event, where our Executive Director of Racing Bill Nader and I will have the opportunity to chat to them and invite them to send runners to our international events in Hong Kong in December. Hopefully I will be able to bring some good news to you all in this blog in the near future.
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