Last Sunday we staged the season’s final G1 contest, the Standard Chartered Champions & Chater Cup, and the high-class contenders produced one of the most exciting finishes seen in any of our top-level races this season. It was a very close call on the line and Helene Super Star was the one who emerged the winner. And in winning the final leg of the Hong Kong Triple Crown he also notched his maiden top-class success.
So the three legs of our Triple Crown series concluded with Tony Cruz claiming the final leg, while John Moore claimed the other two – with Able Friend in the Stewards’ Cup in January, and Designs On Rome in the Citibank Hong Kong Gold Cup in March.
It’s great for us to have Tony, John and many other world-class trainers plying their trade here in Hong Kong. These expert racing professionals have all played a very important role in the rise of Hong Kong racing, especially for their part in prepping many top horses for international glory on our home soil and overseas. To maintain Hong Kong’s position as a global leader in racing, we also endeavour to continuously improve and modernise our stable and training facilities at Sha Tin racecourse, so that they continue to match our world-class standards and provide a favourable training environment for our racehorse population.
Perhaps you have noticed that over the past fortnight our Olympic Stables trainers have expressed some of their concerns about training at the Olympics Stables. In fact, the Club has communicated with different trainers regularly and we always treasure their constructive opinions. We have had regular dialogues and meetings with the four trainers concerned, so as to facilitate mutual exchanges and for us to further understand their views and see what kind of assistance we can give to them.
I’m pleased to learn from my colleagues that the talks between them and the trainers have been candid and constructive. One of the main concerns put forward by the trainers in the meetings was to do with the absence of an equine swimming pool at the Olympic Stables complex. With the increased demand for swimming horses since the Olympic Stables were first used in 2009, we conducted a related feasibility study regarding an extra pool. Actually, in my pre-season press briefing last September before this current season started, I mentioned that we would start construction on a new pool at the Olympic Stables complex. After taking the necessary time to carry out a thorough feasibility study, the construction work will commence very soon and we expect it to be ready for operation and in service next season, sometime around April 2016.
So far the communication with these four trainers has been positive, and we have always been constructive and pragmatic. Latest development was that we have catered Sean Woods’ request to move his horses back to the Main Stables Area. I’m convinced that training from the Olympic Stables has some benefits and with the swimming pool added it is like a private training center. Looking at the overall results as achieved by David Ferraris and Michael Chang over the years, I’m having difficulties to accept that the Olympic Stables in principle are a disadvantage for training. With the additional pool it will make it even better.
Tonight, as usual, we have arranged an eight-race card for our meeting at Happy Valley. I hope you and your friends will come along to support your favourite horses, trainers and jockeys, while having a fun night out at the Valley this evening.
For the races tonight, the last race on the card, the Wong Nai Chung Gap Handicap, is the best race of the evening. The pace of this Class 2 1650m event will be good to fast, with Multivictory contesting for the lead. Pablosky willeither be joining him, or more likely taking the box seat on the inside of Sichuan Exec, Fat Choy Hong Kong, or Regency King. Brilliant Shine should be well positioned in midfield followed by Jazzy Feeling, with Star Majestic and Premium Champion at the back of the field.
The pace should help some horses coming from off the pace, running on the A Course helps them a bit more too. Brilliant Shine is in excellent form, drawn well and is my first choice in this competitive field. It will be interesting to see how our 10-pound claimer Jack Wong will handle riding in Happy Valley, but he has ridden well in Sha Tin. His mount in this race, the Dennis Yip-trained Fat Choy Hong Kong, has at least a place chance here in my opinion. Jazzy Feeling and Star Majestic are both working well and in good form. They are top three chances too, but my second choice for this race is Sichuan Exec.
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