I was very pleased to hear about Hong Kong's new Commissioner for Sports.
Sport has a huge potential in our city, and not just at the professional level. Earlier this week, we launched the Jockey Club Ice Hockey Generation Next programme through a donation from the Club's Charities Trust. This initiative will enable young people to get a taste of this sport, which can otherwise be quite expensive and limited to only those with significant economic advantages.
Recently I met a teacher and school football coach, Gabriel Wong, who managed to overcome a tough start in life to attain great success. In his youth, he did not spend as much time on his schoolwork as he should have, but plenty of time kicking the football around in our playgrounds.
While working during the day as a janitor, he studied at night school and eventually became a teacher. Two years ago he joined the Club's School Football Development Scheme, improving his coaching skills, and most of all, used football as a way to communicate with troubled students. These kids didn't respond to the classroom environment - but given a ball, some structured training and the chance to be part of a team, Gabriel found a transformation in their character and attitude. He is now an officially accredited coach with Manchester United Soccer Schools, and is currently seconded to the Education Bureau, helping to develop student counselling programmes.
While the Club continues its efforts to connect our youth to sport, it also has done a marvelous job developing young racing talent through our Apprentice Jockeys' School. But there is no doubting we have an established global superstar joining us temporarily in our jockeys' room for the next few weeks, adding to our already impressive roster.
Brazilian jockey Silvestre de Sousa managed an early win last Saturday with a victory in his second ride of the day and tomorrow, we will welcome another world-class jockey to join our rank and he is Ryan Moore, widely considered as the best flat jockey in the world (and a winner of the title "World's Best" in 2014). He will ride here for six weeks until late February.
I believe few would forget Ryan's top performances at Sha Tin last month when he swooped the Hong Kong Vase and Hong Kong Mile with Coolmore's young prospect Highland Reel and Japan's ace Maurice. These have all but further enhanced his burgeoning profile and reputation, and could well explain why he has attracted such strong expectations on his first ever riding stint in Hong Kong on this occasion.
Many recent talks among local racing media and columnists have been on the prospects of having Ryan, Silvestre, and our existing top riders including Joao Moreira, Zac Purton, Brett Prebble and company, competing against each other day in and day out. And with a series of big races upcoming in the next six weeks, the bookings will be all the more intriguing.
For the 10 races on the card, the Tak Ku Ling Handicap may be the last race of the day and is just a Class 3 handicap over 1,400m, but it is for a good reason. This is a very competitive race with some upcoming 4-year-olds who should develop further against some proven Class 3 horses. The pace is expected to be good to slow, and when combined with the C+3 rail setting, should lend preference to those runners racing in the front of the field.
So Fast led in his two recent runs but was given a more conservative ride in his last start. He may end up just behind the pace which would be a good spot. Numero Uno may work across the field from gate 12 and could be even the leader without being challenged. Midnight Rattler should be well positioned and has the speed to be handy in an equally good spot. Meanwhile, Presidentparamount and Penang Hall could take up good positions behind these horses up front.Soul Achiever, Glenealy Prize and Dashing Super are likely to be positioned behind midfield withDashing Super at risk of a wide run. The rest of the field has to come from further back, including the very consistent Lotus Breeze.
Midnight Rattler has a lot in his favour, plus he is working well with Moreira on board, and is my first choice. So Fast is well positioned, working well, and Cheminaud takes over this ride from Moreira. Both of these 4-year-olds should go farther in their ratings. Numero Uno should have a place chance as well as Penang Hall, who should benefit from stepping up in distance from 1200m to 1400m. Glenealy Prize has only his third start and is going up in class, but seems to have further potential. An interesting outsider is Lucky Scepter who did not have a clear run in his last start and finished well.
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