The season’s first race meeting will be held at Sha Tin Racecourse tomorrow and I can sense the excitement among race fans as the big day approaches. The Club has again been working through the summer to implement new features that will enhance the racecourse experience and for our property team in particular, it seemed as though we were busier during the summer break than during the season!
Venues such as the newly-refurbished main Members’ Betting Hall and the popular Pak Sing Restaurant in the public stand at Sha Tin will be open on Sunday. More facilities for the wider public will include a newly renovated 3/F Happy Valley Stand which has been designed along a fashionable and stylish theme. At Sha Tin later this season we will open a new restaurant similar to The Gallery at the Valley, which will be popular with our newer racing fans. I’m confident that these new facilities and attractions will meet with customer approval and make the racecourse experience a more enjoyable one. I hope those of you that visit Sha Tin and Happy Valley in the next week will agree that all the efforts were worthwhile.
In line with our Racecourse Master Plan we have made significant investment to upgrade facilities and enhance experience for our Owners, Club Members and the racing public, with total investments amounted to HK$3.5 billion over the past four years. If you look at where we are now, Sha Tin is without question one of the leading racecourses in the world and Happy Valley is probably the most impressive night-time racecourse anywhere, with its stunning city centre location. They are iconic venues and they are more than just racecourses, they stand for Hong Kong.
Partly as a result of this investment, we achieved excellent results in turnover and attendance last season. I am cautiously optimistic about the outlook of our racing business this season, but significant challenges remain, especially the strong competition posed by gaming entertainment operators in Macau. The large variety of leisure entertainment facilities there are attractive, targeting not only a Hong Kong clientele looking for high-end gaming, but also ordinary visitors to Macau mixing some casual fun gaming with family leisure activities.
Facing the strong competition in the gaming and entertainment industry, we not only continue to look for ways to create experiences, but also to connect with customers and for new fans to understand the sport more easily. Other than the Racecourse Master Plan, which is concerned with the hardware improvements, we have also rolled out new developments on the software side with the use of technology innovation. Our customers, especially the more tech-savvy, can enjoy new services such as a pioneering app that enables a 2nd Screen on the Club’s Chinese racing TV program, which is a global first in the racing industry, and more content such as daily track work clips and enhanced racing statistics on the Club’s website. It is pleasing to hear media friends and racing columnists expressing their warm approval of our new facilities and services.
With our hosting of the Asian Racing Conference in May next year, we have a priceless opportunity to showcase the world-class status of racing in Hong Kong. For those of you who are interested, The ARC Trophy will be on view for members and guests at Sha Tin on Season Opening Day. In addition, a special ceremony will be held after Race 3 to celebrate the latest success of the HKJC equestrian team, most prominently our sponsored rider Jacqueline Lai who won a silver medal in the jumping event at the National Games in Liaoning earlier this week. I hope to see many of you at Sha Tin tomorrow and wish all of you a successful season ahead.
A fortnight ago I missed the fantastic celebration of Dennis Yip for his trainer’s championship as to watch my horse Now We Can running in France. Unfortunately there was no reason for me to celebrate as he finished unplaced in the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville. Now We Can looked a little bit heavy before the race after a long break, and was running for the first time on a soft going which seemed not of his liking. I’m hopeful that the next time he is running I have reason to celebrate again. Though earlier we had targeted Now We Can to participate in this year’s Melbourne Cup, we now opt not to do so as the trainer and myself have decided that the horse is not experienced enough yet for such a tough race. And instead, we will focus on the Canadian International in Woodbine in late-October and hopefully everything goes smooth and he can get some nice results there.
Eight high class runners will seek for honour in our first trophy race of the season, the HKSAR Chief Executive’s Cup tomorrow. It’s a small but quality field and the expected pace should be good, which gives every horse a fair chance. Regular leader Go Baby Go is expected to lead, with Leading City at his side. Rich Tapestry and Cerise Cherry will settle behind the pace in good spots. Best Eleven and Wah May Star are expected to be in midfield with El Zonda and Destined For Glory at the back of the field. Go Baby Go, Rich Tapestry, Cerise Cherry as well as Destined For Glory are all working very well. These are the horses I expect to fight for the win. Go Baby Go carries four pounds less than Rich Tapestry and this should give him a little advantage. I like Destined For Glory most as this horse, ridden by Douglas Whyte, just needs to carry 124 pounds and his earlier trial performance was very impressive. The slight reservation is his respiratory issue but at 1200m he should be not as exposed as over longer distances.
For the Harcourt Handicap, the Class 4 race over 1000m, we will see the return of Yat Ding Win. The horse is drawn to start from Gate 9 which should make it easy for him, due to the lack of early pace horses to get to the outside rail - an advantage over the straight 1000m course. After the End of Season rating review in the summer, Yat Ding Win’s rating was adjusted back to 52, after seeing his win late last season being disqualified as of the Zilpaterol incident. The horse is working well and I think he will be difficult to beat. For other runners, Roman Legend is the only other on pace runner and is a place chance, as well as Lovely Boy who is working well.
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