Last Wednesday was the finale of the Happy Valley Million Challenge and the Caspar Fownes-trained Twin Delight got the most important win of all that evening, scoring a front-running win to surge to the top and seal first place in the challenge. I learnt that Caspar will now give the horse a well-deserved break. Twin Delight certainly deserves it after bringing home a lucrative victory for his connections. Not only did the gelding grab the HK$650,000 Million Challenge winner’s bonus, he also took the winner’s share of HK$855,000 for the race he won on the night, and to cap a great return, the High Achievement Bonus of HK$750,000. That meant the victory was worth a whooping HK$2.255 million, which is a great reward for Owner Peter Law.
In the first half of this five-day Easter holiday, I’m sure many of you will have been relaxing and enjoying some great moments with your family and friends. I am thrilled to know that more than 33,000 people, of different generations, joined us for our Community Festival at Sha Tin racecourse and Penfold Park, one of the major events we have hosted to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Club and to share the happiness with Hong Kong people.
I was there on the opening day of the event on Friday and it was delightful to see so many happy faces, with kids, parents and grandparents all enjoying themselves. At the event I also met Manchester United legend Denis Irwin. Denis is the latest Red Devil legend to come over to Hong Kong and he was here as the special guest for the Football skills assessment platform, hosted by the Manchester United Soccer School, which was staged at the carnival for local teenagers to participate in. It was good to chat with him and discuss the merits of the current United team, especially as the team is recently on a great run, having won five matches in a row in the Premier League.
Denis also joined me and cross-media artist Simon Ma as we joined hands with over 1,000 local secondary and primary school students to set a new Guinness World Record. All of us, under the guidance of Simon, produced the world’s largest fingerprint painting, with the subject of our “masterpiece” being horses.
I feel delighted for creating joy and happiness for these 1,000 young students, as I believe they would all be very proud to be part of this record-breaking achievement as facilitated by the Club. Through the great teamwork of our club employees, and with Simon Ma being a well known artist who stimulated the young students through his skills and passion, in my view I believe it’s even more important than breaking the record itself.
Anyway, I hope that those of you who have attended our festival over the three days have thoroughly enjoyed the time and the enviroment of Sha Tin Racecourse. We look forward to organising similar events in the racecourse and Penfold Park for the public, should future opportunity arise.
Before the end of the Easter holidays, we have scheduled a race meeting at Sha Tin tomorrow. It promises to be an afternoon of exciting racing so should be a great way to end your holiday on a high note.
I’m confident you will not be disappointed as there will be two pattern races on our card tomorrow. Other than the HKG3 Bauhinia Sprint Trophy, I believe many racing fans will be paying their attention to the HKG2 Chairman’s Trophy, as Able Friend will seek to match the recent winning run of Manchester United, questing for his 5th consecutive victory this term. A win will definitely be a great prep for the current world’s top turf miler before running in the G1 Champions Mile in four weeks’ time. He will take on seven opponents in this race and let’s see if he will again get another easy win tomorrow.
The Chairman's Trophy is run as a Hong Kong Group 2 race over 1600m. The pace is expected to be slow, with Secret Sham as the likely leader from his middle draw. Beauty Flame can either share the lead or compete for a good space just off the pace. All the other horses usually run on from behind will result in a slow pace, which, despite the small field, favours horses in the front and/or others who get an uninterupted run.
In his last start Able Friend was run into a pocket and could have lost the race if Moreira was trapped and had not been able to get him out in time. It will be interesting to see if Moreira, from his draw in 3, chooses to take a position on the rail or keep him one off. Able Friend is working very well and despite he has to give five pounds away to the rest of the field, with exemption of Dan Excel for the Group 1 win within the last year, it seems very difficult for him to get beaten. Beauty Flame's trackwork is good and is for me a good place chance. Rewarding Hero is working very well too and will come from the back and is my other chance for a place.
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