It’s been a while since I last covered the topic of German football in this blog. But last weekend I saw an item of sports news from Germany that I believe has attracted much attention from local football fans. Zhi-gin Lam – who is a German national but the son of a Hong Kong migrant – made his Bundesliga debut for Hamburger SV, helping his team to a 2-1 victory at Stuttgart, their first league win of the season.
Although I didn’t watch the match live on Friday night, I did manage to catch the match highlights later. I thought Lam not only showed good quality and pace, but also played with great confidence and composure for someone making his debut. As you can imagine, it’s not easy for a player of any nationality to break into a top league like the Bundesliga. Hopefully he can establish himself as a regular starter in the Hamburg team for the rest of the season and beyond.
Football has long been the most popular sport in my home country, and most Germans follow the Bundesliga avidly. But at this time of year, there's always another popular activity that captures a lot of interest, the annual Oktoberfest celebrations. That's especially true in the southern state of Bavaria, which is home to the original festival.
With more than 200 years of history behind it, this annual celebration of beer has now developed into the largest fair in the world. Millions of people flock to Wiesn near the city centre of Munich to enjoy the beer, the music and many kinds of traditional food. And nowadays the Oktoberfest is not just confined to Bavaria, but takes place in many other German states and major cities, attracting hundreds of thousands of overseas visitors each year.
There is a long historic link between the Oktoberfest and horse racing, as in the early days, the last day of the festival was marked by a horse race meeting attended by the royal family. In 2008, we decided to bring that link to Hong Kong by hosting an Oktoberfest at Happy Valley Racecourse for the first time. With the Beer Garden having already gained a popular following by then, the festival proved an instant hit with our party-loving racegoers. It has since become well established as one of our signature events at Happy Valley each season.
This year's Oktoberfest, which will span four consecutive night meetings at the Valley, gets under way tonight. Following the German tradition we will mark the opening of the event with a gun salute, followed by the ceremonial pouring of the first stein of beer.
I hope you will all come along and enjoy the fun, alongside the regular fare of some great racing. You can visit different beer counters to sample a variety of German beer styles, as well as enjoying traditional food treats prepared by our top chefs like Roast Pork Knuckle with Sauerkraut, Frankfurter and Apple Bacon Skewers, and of course pretzels, the most famous snack of all to complement German beer.
If you want to have some further fun with your friends, you can participate in various games like “slick’n’ slide” beer table beer slide and a beer drinking contest.
One attraction you definitely shouldn't miss is legendary German band Die Notenhobler, who have flown in from Munich to perform at the racecourse tonight. Dressed in traditional lederhosen, they will entertain you with German drinking and folk songs, and probably much more besides. They've visited Hong Kong a number of times before and built up a very popular following here, as they always create a great atmosphere – I can promise you won't be disappointed. So do come along to the Valley tonight to soak up some unique Bavarian culture.
A few of the races on tonight’s card also promise to be rather exciting. For instance, the Heung Yip Handicap is a very competitive Class 3 1,200m race with several horses with a chance to win. The expected pace is good and the race meeting being run on the C course would favour horses with a good draw and being in the front of the field.
Vintage Hussler coming out of gate 8 will try to take the lead. Having been placed at his debut this season, I think he also has a decent chance for a place finish tonight. Superior Warrior is another speed influence but coming out of gate 11 will make it difficult for him. Dream Builder is working well and will be ridden by Douglas Whyte, who should position his runner in midfield. This Dennis Yip-trained runner, together with Flashing Guy who appears to be fitter after his season debut a fortnight ago, both have the chance to finish close in this race. Young Turbo, which is racing in the colours of the Racing Club and being drawn in gate 4, is my top pick in this race. He should be positioned well behind the leaders and his track work is excellent which makes him my first choice.
The Hong Kong Country Club Challenge Cup is a very interesting sprint race with several proven Class 2 sprinters in the field. The expected pace will be fast, with Amedeo, Romantic City, At Moment In Time and Good Boy Boy are all capable to take the lead. It will be difficult to predict the running order, but I expect that Bould Mover, Golden Bauhinia and widely drawn Charity Spirit will likely to get positions behind the speed and get cover.
At Moment In Time has decent past record in Happy Valley 1,000m races. Although he’s ridden by apprentice Ben So and drawn in gate 10 this time, his last run in Sha Tin was very encouraging and I think he has a good chance to break into the top-three tonight. Romantic City – from gate 5 with apprentice Alvin Ng aboard – is a speed machine and I also favour his chance for getting a place finish. King Mossman is a great horse and his last win at Sha Tin against Bear Hero was tremendous, but he will face a number of real specialists at the Valley this time. I’m not sure if he can produce the same form tonight, and I therefore would be more cautious to see him as a clear favourite. Amedeo is an outstanding Valley performer. Being drawn in gate 2 makes him a good chance to be in a very good position. I favour his chance in winning this race.
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