Although Hong Kong is a very well-developed city, it has some amazing scenery close at hand. Not many people realise that some 40 per cent of Hong Kong's land area is protected country park, which I'm told is the highest ratio of anywhere in the world. Most of these country parks are easily accessible by public transport, and offer a range of hiking options that vary from short family nature walks to some extremely challenging trails for the experts.
As I'm usually kept very busy with my work at the Club, it's been quite a long while since I managed to find some spare time to enjoy this natural beauty and serenity myself. But I know that many locals love heading off to the hills at weekends, especially at this time of year when the weather is starting to get a bit cooler.
The Penfold Park, which is now a facility managed by the Club and being an Olympic legacy theme park, is also a very popular greenery location as members of the public can enjoy a leisure walk on the large turf, as well as watching various equine exhibits that showed our city’s legacy in hosting the Beijing Olympics equestrian events there.
The Jockey Club Kau Sai Chau Public Golf Course, located on the eastern shoreline near Sai Kung, is another green facility that carries the Club’s name. Many of my friends visiting from overseas have described it as one of the most scenic courses they have ever played. The island is also home to an amazing diversity of plants and wildlife, most of which have returned in the 15 years since we created the golf course from a barren former army driving range.
Earlier this week, I read in the news that UNESCO had approved the addition of Hong Kong Geopark, which covers an extensive area of the Sai Kung and Tai Po District coastlines, into the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network. This new status puts our geopark alongside some of the world’s most impressive geological locations like Huangshan and Zhangjiajie in Mainland China, Langkawi in Malaysia and Jeju Island in Korea. I'm sure these will be familiar names to most of you, as they have become popular destinations for Hong Kong travellers in recent years.
It's good to know that Hong Kong ecotourism is also becoming more popular, with more local residents and overseas visitors joining ecotours here to explore the natural beauty of our countryside. UNESCO's designation reminds us all that there are many precious natural resources here that we need to protect and preserve. It also provides us with a further opportunity to promote this side of Hong Kong to overseas travellers, especially to nature lovers and hikers.
Actually, I really can't think of any destination that offers so many different options to visitors in such a small space, whether it's world-class shopping and dining, great entertainment or stunning natural scenery. And definitely one of the city's most iconic attractions is its horse racing, especially our night racing at Happy Valley, which has a unique atmosphere that I truly haven't encountered at any other racetrack in the world.
Among various attractions at the Valley, the Beer Garden has quickly emerged as one of our spotlight venues in recent years, blending beer, music, live performances and celebrity appearances with the city's favourite sport of racing. It has proved especially popular among the younger professional set, local expats, as well as with many tourists.
It is our continuous effort to promote horse racing as one of the city's world-class, "must see" attractions, and we will continue working closely with Hong Kong's tourism authorities, travel agencies and tour operators to attract more overseas tourists to come to HK. If you meet any visitors at tonight's Happy Valley meeting, I hope you will play your part by helping to make them feel welcome, and maybe even sharing a few good tips with them!
Among tonight's eight-race card, the Hazel Handicap is a very competitive Class 3 Handicaps over 1650m, which should be run at a good to slow pace and slightly favours horses in the front of the field. My Goal should be the runner to take the lead. It will be interesting to see how he performs after having changed to Peter Ng’s stable, but judging from his sub-par performance in trial, he appears to me not to be in top condition yet. Win A Dozen is expected to go forward, too, but he is for me not at his best either. But I like Interchina Star from Tony Cruz’s yard – the other horse who will be going forward – and I think he should have a good place chance. Jimson The Best should be well placed and is working well. He’s my main pick in this race, along with Arion Of Chiu Ton who seems to do well after his change to his new trainer Richard Gibson. Moon Chaser has drawn a bad gate but should run on well for a place.
The Cypress Handicap falls in the same category as the Hazel Handicap, being a competitive Class 3 but at the distance of 1200m. The expected pace should be slow which helps horses in the front of the field. Although Loads Of Joy was drawn to start in Gate 10, he should be able to lead. Shahjee – my favourite runner for this race – will be coming out of Gate 9 and I think he will be able to cross the field to be in a very good position. This horse has been working well and seems to have matured over the summer being only a three-year-old. Union’s Star is working very well too but is somewhat unreliable, but Star Of Fame as well as Team Work are for me with better chances in this race. I would like to have a close look at Windicator Power in the paddock because on form he should have a very good chance but his body weight was up which is of concern to me.
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