In Sunday’s Sprinters Stakes in Japan we saw Hong Kong duo Lucky Nine and Green Birdie chalk up what I thought were fair performances. I watched the race replay from where I was staying in France and was gutted to see Lucky Nine again having tough luck, being interfered early in the straight which all but ruined his chances in this G1 event. It came as a surprise to me that after an inquiry, the Japanese Stewards have decided to let the results being withstood.
I’ve already heard our racing fans’ complaints about the different standards of Japanese Stewards in applying the interference rule. We have expressed these viewpoints and share our assessment with some of our Japanese counterparts. As I said in my blog last month, the JRA will inform their racing participants about the proposed changes of objection rules in January 2012. Hopefully the measures will soon be implemented, and be harmonised within Asia to ensure a consistent judgement.
Anyway, these things happen in horse racing and you can only keep looking forward. I'm sure this race will again feature Hong Kong runners next year, and let's hope they have better luck.
In the end, Japanese runners took all the first three places, and it was interesting to note that two of them were fillies, winner Curren Chan and third-placed A Shin Virgo. It was quite a weekend for the females, all in all, as in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe later that day we saw European fillies take all the top three places in this premier middle-distance event, which must be something of a record.
I was at Longchamp Racecourse to watch the Arc and what made me even happier was witnessing a new chapter in my home country's racing history, as three-year-old German filly Danedream defeated the likes of Workforce, So You Think and Sarafina to win this prestigious event in a race record time. Making it even more special was the fact that it was an all-German success, as the filly is trained by Peter Schiergen and was ridden by Andrasch Starke.
Frankly speaking, I didn't hold much expectation for Danedream’s chances before the race, even though she did exceptionally well in her last two starts, the Grosser Preis von Berlin and Grosser Preis von Baden, trouncing her opponents by more than five lengths in both these Group 1 events. She was only supplemented for the Arc at the final stage, so one had to wonder whether she was fully prepared to face such prestigious company.
But Danedream turned in a sensational performance, breaking clear of this top-notch field in the straight and putting the race beyond doubt by the furlong mark. It was an amazing run and an especially wonderful result for all German racing fans, as our last German winner was Star Appeal in the 1975 Arc, some 36 years ago. Moreover it came just the day before Monday's German Unity Day, which this year marked 20 years since the country's reunification.
Apart from my personal delight at this success, I was happy to hear some more good news at Longchamp, as connections of several horses that gave strong performances at the Arc meeting expressed their interest in joining in our Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races in December. These included 2009 Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase placegetter Kasbah Bliss, who won the marathon G1 Prix du Cadran on Sunday, and last year’s Hong Kong Cup winner Snow Fairy, who ran a creditable third in this year’s Arc.
It's good to know that our International Races are seen as an important target of many European racing connections every year, and we look forward to seeing these top horses compete on our home turf.
For my part, I stayed on in Paris after the Arc meeting to attend the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ international conference alongside delegates from other racing jurisdictions worldwide yesterday. Acting as the moderator of an important business session about the future challenges of racing, I highlighted in my introductory remarks the importance of taking a holistic approach in understanding customer behaviour and meeting their changing needs.
Quite simply, the ever-growing competitive challenge posed by other leisure and entertainment operators, combined with the global trend of a shrinking customer base for horse racing, means we have to do more to retain customers and attract newcomers to our sport. The way I put it was that we need to be more "outside-in" than "inside-out" when examining our challenges and future options. Otherwise we will neither be able to truly understand and differentiate our customers, nor create offerings that can attract, retain and grow our customer base.
The session included three top racing journalists from around the world, who were able to give us valuable insights from the "outside" perspective.
I'll soon move on to London to attend the Leaders in Racing conference in UK time Thursday morning, which will see some of the top figures in global racing sharing their views about the future direction of the global racing industry. I will tell you more about that later this week.
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