Some of you might know that alongside my passion for racing and for football, I’m also a genuine car lover. Not so much the pursuit of speed, but more the enjoyment, satisfaction and all-round pleasure that driving a really nice car can bring.
In recent years, there has been a lot of pioneering development in the car manufacturing industry relating to electric vehicles. Nowadays electric cars are a viable alternative to diesel and petrol cars and so have increased in popularity over the past couple of years. Most of these EVs - when compared to petrol-driven vehicles - can now cover almost the same range when fully charged and their prices have come down, making them more affordable to more people. These trends have resulted in more car owners opting to “go green” and purchase an EV of their own. This is something that I have done, too.
As I have been driving around Hong Kong I have noticed that it is not difficult to spot other electric vehicles. I think it’s a very positive development as these vehicles have minimal, or in some cases zero, carbon emissions. More of these types of vehicles on the road will surely improve roadside air quality, help to alleviate the air pollution problem and so be beneficial to the sustainable development of our city.
The Jockey Club is a major enterprise in Hong Kong and so for many years now we have been leading by example by following a green approach. We are not just promoting green practices at workplace or green living to our employees and the local community; we are in fact also employing various sustainable green measures in our daily operations. On Monday I attended a ceremony at Happy Valley Racecourse which showcased the Club’s latest green efforts. 
Together with our close partner, German automobile brand BMW, we announced that19 new all-electric BMW i3 vehicles will be joining our Club’s transport fleet. These new EVs will replace some of the older vehicles in our existing fleet and will be used in supporting daily staff transportation and maintenance work.
In addition, I’m also pleased that the public will also benefit from part of our campaign, as we have installed 12 new EV chargers at various Club premises, such as our carpark at Sha Tin Racecourse, our Clubhouses at Sha Tin, Happy Valley and Beas River, and at the Public Riding Schools in Tuen Mun and Lei Yue Mun. These can be used by car park patrons for free. We hope these initiatives will encourage more businesses and private car owners to choose to drive EVs, so that everybody can contribute their part and drive greener for Hong Kong.
Back to racing and our racehorses and horsemen will have just two more days to achieve wins at Happy Valley and Sha Tin racecourses before the current season ends this Sunday. The races last Sunday were very exciting with John Moore and Gerald Mosse each scoring a four-timer. The winning quartet also helped Moore to extend his lead in the trainer’s table to six wins over John Size. I would say it’s not impossible for second-placed Size to close the gap on Moore in the two remaining meetings, but certainly it would be a herculean effort if he were to succeed. If he is to do so, I think he must first notch as many as winners as he could at the Valley tonight. Both trainers will field select runners on the nine-race card, with Moore having four contenders and Size six. I will be keeping a particularly close eye on their runners’ performances in our races this evening.
So far this season, we have 27 outright winners of the High Achievement Bonus and two additional horses that have participated in the scheme through top-up awards. In the final race of the Happy Valley season, the Class 2 Perfect Partner Handicap at 1200m, three horses are eligible for the bonus, including two that are getting their last chance at the HK$750,000 incentive payment.
Eroico and Clever Beaver are the two horses that have come close to winning this prize and both horses are making their final appearance as four-year-olds. Under the criteria for eligibility which states that a horse must be successful in Class 2 or above before reaching five years of age, this marks their final opportunity to qualify. Clever Beaver finished second, beaten only a neck, in his last start to just miss out and Eroico has finished second on three occasions when eligible for the bonus.
Eroico is one of the many stars of the current season, climbing 42 points in the ratings as a four-time winner. This is only his second start at Happy Valley after a creditable run in his October debut and he is clearly a top three chance on the strength of his consistent record. He is well drawn and will get a nice run from just behind the speed.
The pace is expected to be good with horses like Caga Force and Clever Beaver pushing forward from wide draws, while You Read My Mind and Happy Bao Bei take up a forward position from their inside draws. Happy Bao Bei will be ridden by Jacky Tong as Brett Prebble serves a suspension over the last two race meetings of the season. He has won his last two races and steps up to Class 2, with a low weight and a good draw. He will need to be at his very best to win but comes into the contest in top form, and he’s a win and top three chance in this race. Smart Man and Marvel Tribe are also place chances in this Happy Valley finale.
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