Every year, the first Tuesday in November is a very special day for Australia, and of course the Australian community in Hong Kong, as attention turns to Flemington Racecourse and Australia’s premier racing event, the 152nd Melbourne Cup.
There are some aspects of the Melbourne Cup which are unique to Australia. They call it “the race that stops a nation” and I have seen that this is literally true – the national parliament, the law courts, every office and factory, all of these stop what they are doing to watch the race. In Victoria the whole day is made a public holiday, and in the rest of the country most offices are closed for the afternoon.
While this racing event has long enjoyed paramount status in Australia, the Victoria Racing Club, in the past few years, has made concerted efforts to actively promote the race overseas. In this strategy, I think we can see that there are features of the Melbourne Cup that have close similarities to our LONGINES Hong Kong International Races. One fundamental similarity is of course the importance that both HKJC and VRC place on drawing the best horses from around the world. With the total prize money of this year’s Melbourne Cup exceeding A$6 million, it has now become the richest G1 handicap in the world and has attracted increasing international participation. The four G1 events in the LONGINES Hong Kong International Races this year will carry a total prize money of HK$72 million. Both local and overseas horse connections offered overwhelmed support to us as we received 267 nominations, including 80 Group 1 winners, for our Turf World Championships on 9 December.
We are also pleased to promote our flagship international meeting as an exceptional tourist event, luring not only related horse connections or race fans but also other overseas visitors to come and join us for this spectacular week of racing in Hong Kong in December. Thousands of overseas visitors are attracted to participate in the HKIR that eventually generate a larger financial return and bring in more actual economic benefits to the territory. At the same time, it will help boosting the international reputation of the Club and also Hong Kong.
For the race itself this year, last year’s champion Dunaden will bid to become the fifth back-to-back winner in the race’s history. He has shown great form ahead of this year’s renewal as his latest start saw him carry top-weight to easily win the G1 Caulfield Cup. I am eager to see if the horse can produce another sensational performance and whether we will witness a repeat of last year’s thrilling duel to the line with Red Cadeaux. Hopefully both will do well and head once more to Hong Kong where Dunaden would bid to defend his title in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase next month. Last year he was the first ever horse to win the Melbourne Cup and a race at the HKIR and it would be a phenomenal feat if he could repeat that!
For Dunaden, he’s now in great form and cannot be ignored. He should be able to at least get a place, but he has to carry a significant weight of 130 pounds, especially in relation to Red Cadeaux which has no issue in running fresh. I am hopeful for Red Cadeaux’s connections with our former Chairman Mr Arculli being the owner. Mount Athos is an interesting contender prepared by Luca Cumani and with a weight of 119 pounds he should not be underestimated. Americain is coming back to form and has for me a place chance! The European bred horses have been superior when it comes to staying races, which is opposite when compared to those sprint races we watched in our simulcasts. The light-weighted Lexus Stakes’ winner Kelinni, trained by Chris Waller and ridden by Glen Boss, could be one of the outsiders coming in at least for a place!
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