I expect many of our racing fans will have seen from the news reports these past two days that one of our main contenders in the International Races, Snow Fairy, has been withdrawn from the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Vase after sustaining a leg injury in trackwork on Monday. It's a great shame to see her forced to pull out in such circumstances, as having won the CXHK Cup with a storming finish last year, she was bidding to become the first ever Cup-Vase double winner. This four-year-old filly had shown to all that she was back in top form with her recent success in the Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup in Japan, and before that a third-place in the Arc.
Hopefully Snow Fairy will recover soon and return to compete in Hong Kong again next year. I think we will still see some very competitive races on 11 December, though, as there are many other high-profile runners in the field. You will need not to wait much longer now for the chance to see some of the world's best horses and jockeys competing on our home turf.
In the meantime, there has been an international equine event of a different nature taking place here in Hong Kong this week – the 4th Asia-Pacific Conference of the Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) and in parallel with it, the CPEDI3* Hong Kong International Para-Equestrian Dressage Competition 2011, Asia's only qualifying competition for the equestrian events of the London 2012 Paralympics. Both these events were held at our Beas River Country Club with the Jockey Club's full support.
Through its charitable contributions, the Club has always tried to ensure that disabled people here enjoy the same opportunities as the able-bodied, and we have worked in close partnership with RDA Hong Kong since it was established in 1975. Horse riding is well recognised as being very therapeutic for the disabled, and also helps them build confidence – it takes a lot of courage to handle a 1,000-pound horse. Over the years we have donated more than HK$35 million to cover the costs of RDA's operations at our Pok Fu Lam and Tuen Mun Public Riding Schools, as well as other activities. We also provide veterinary and clinical services for their horses and even train some retired racehorses for para-equestrian sport.
This week's conference was attended by delegates from a record 15 Asia-Pacific countries and regions, and provided a platform for experts and professionals from as far away as Europe, the USA and Australia to share their knowledge, experience and best practice in this field.
Meanwhile the associated dressage competition has provided our local para-equestrian riders with a unique opportunity to meet the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) minimum qualifying standard for the Paralympics. Five Hong Kong riders took part, and I'm pleased to hear that three of them – namely Natasha Tse, Timothy Tsang and Sophie Milner – have now met the 60% minimum standard. Among them, Natasha Tse set a career high of 67.75% and now looks to have a real chance of fulfilling her dream of competing in the London 2012 Paralympics.
Just across the fence from Beas River at the neighbouring Hong Kong Golf Club in Fanling, another major international sporting event is taking place this week, the UBS Hong Kong Open 2011 golf championship, which will start tomorrow. This is one of the longest-established golf tournaments in Asia, having first been held in 1959 when golf was a sport still known to relatively few in the region. It has flourished ever since and today boasts total prize money of US$2.75 million.
Since earning the sanction of the European Tour in 2001, which means it now carries ranking points, the tournament has attracted many star players from different countries and become an important fixture in the world’s professional golfing calendar. This year's star players include current world No.2 Rory McIlroy, Britain's Ian Poulter and Justin Rose who were runners-up for England in the World Cup last weekend, and Korea's Yang Yong-eun, the first Asian player to win a Major.
I'm pleased to be able to tell you that to commemorate the rich history and tradition of this event, we shall be staging the European Tour Golf Cup as a feature race at our Happy Valley meeting this evening, and that some of these top players will be coming along to enjoy our racing and present the cup. So do make sure you get along this evening if you want to tee up some golf-star spotting.
For this trophy race, a Class 3 event over 1000m, it will be run on the C+3 course which is normally favouring horses who are running in the front of the field. Good Boy Boy has enough pace to cross from Gate 11 and will probably lead with Vintage Hussler. Good Boy Boy was irritated in his last run by a loose horse, and I think both he and Vintage Hussler will have good chance to be in the first three. The horse I would have preferred most in this race is Prosperous – if the race would not be run on the C+3 course – because he has to come from behind which makes it more difficult on this course and you need luck to get a run through the field. Having said that, I think he still has a nice place chance tonight. Super Plus is another horse that can produce a close finish, but I like Stallion Supreme most as he’s a Happy Valley 1000m specialist. He’s working well and should be well placed just behind the pace.
The Po Yan Handicap should be the best race of the day as we have arranged this Class 1 1000m event as the last race this evening. The same pattern applies to this race as in the European Tour Golf Cup, being those in the front of the field should enjoy an advantage. Romantic City has enough early pace to cross in front from Gate 9 and share the lead with Amedeo who is drawn in Gate 1. Both horses have been disappointing so far this season and I prefer others at this stage. Horse Galore is working very well and should be in a perfect spot behind the pace and with his last great run behind Admiration, he's my pick for this race. El Zonda is a three-time winner at Happy Valley over 1000m and has come from the back of the field which makes not easy for him, but I see him as a place chance. The same applies to Flying Colours and Vital Flyer and therefore I prefer At Moment In Time because he is a course and distance specialist too, but he should be better positioned coming from Gate 7 and in a similar spot like Horse Galore.
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