Back on Tuesday my hometown team Borussia Monchengladbach made their maiden appearance in the UEFA Champions League, facing La Liga outfit Sevilla in Spain. I stayed late for the match but they looked rusty and lacked a bit of luck in their 0-3 defeat. It’s a sluggish start for Gladbach this season, as they were winless in their first four Bundesliga matches. I hope they could steady the ship, bounce back sooner to get a win in next few matches.
Comparatively, there are signs of revitalization in Hong Kong football recently. Many offered their huge support to the Hong Kong team, and it reflected on attendance as two of their recent local football matches registered a sold-out crowd. This Sunday will feature the annual Club-sponsored football event, the HKJC Community Cup at Mongkok Stadium between local powerhouses South China and Kitchee. The Club’s sponsorship covers prize money plus a sum to be shared among the seven other Premier League clubs, which we hope will help them develop their teams through the season. The winner and runner up will also be able to nominate charities to receive donations funded by the Jockey Club.
During Thursday’s press conference, I’m also happy to learn from my casual chat with management and Football Association executives that there are more enterprises and commercial groups expressing their interests to offer sponsorships and support, either to the clubs or the association this season. It’s welcoming news as it will surely further power and synergize local football development.
The same applies to racing as we are always pleased to have new sponsors joining and bringing a wider variety of elements to our sport. In our races at Sha Tin Racecourse this afternoon, we will welcome our new racing sponsor Kwoon Chung Bus Company, owned by Matthew Wong, who has also been a successful Owner of several horses in Hong Kong. Kwoon Chung is also the title sponsor to the Southern football team in the Hong Kong league this season, and the team players will also come for the races today. I look forward to meeting them all and I hope Matthew and the team enjoying their time at Sha Tin.
The Kwoon Chung Bus Golden Jubilee Cup will be the highlight race of the day. It’s run as a Class 2 over 1200m and has attracted some very promising runners. Go Baby Go has very good early speed and can lead smart horses over 1000m. There's little doubt he' ll be going to the front, especially with a 10-pound claimer on board. You Read My Mind is also a natural speedster and he should come across and attempt to control the tempo. But with both horses going forward it should result in a good pace which should give every horse a chance to perform fairly from a race pace perspective.
Fabulous November should settle behind the pace but he can be moody, with Clever Beaver likely to tuck in behind the leaders in a good position, followed by Lang Tai Sing, Great Spirit and Strathmore, who may choose to go forward to get behind the main pace runners. Amazing Kids from gate 11 should be able to slot in behind them and avoid to being trapped wide, with Lucky Double Eight and What You Dream at the back.
After being gelded Strathmore is working very well. He has a fitness advantage winning his first start of the season and is my first choice slightly ahead of Amazing Kids. Amazing Kids who I like a lot trialled very well and he receives 11 pounds from Strathmore. He’s my other horse I fancy to win and there is not much between the two horses. Clever Beaver is not fully fit but he should run well. The same applies for Lucky Double Eight who runs well fresh, with Golden Deer and Lang Tai Sing as interesting outsiders with top-three chances.
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