Spring is well and truly here, and with it the beginning of Le French May – Hong Kong’s annual celebration of French art, music, film and, of course, food! You can celebrate right here at Happy Valley where tonight sees the first of our ‘French Nights’ parties.
As in previous years the Club is sponsoring some of Le French May events including the highlight exhibition, Claude Monet: The Spirit of Place. In fact last Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a preview at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The pictures were absolutely stunning, but the accompanying dinner was truly memorable. Monet loved to invite his friends for family lunch, taking ingredients from his famous garden, and our menu was based on recipes from his personal cookbook. So having seen his pictures, it was wonderful to taste the exact same food Monet served up to fellow Impressionists like Renoir, Pissarro and Degas.
If you want to see the exhibition for yourself it runs through 11 July and I thoroughly recommend it. And don’t forget there’s still plenty of time to enjoy our ‘French Nights’ at Happy Valley, which will run for two more Wednesdays on 11 and 18 May. There will be live performances and plenty of French food and wine. Highlights will be the running of the France Galop Cup and Le French May Trophy on 11 May, followed by the Sauternes Cup on 18 May. It promises to be quite a party and some great racing.
Two weekends ago, our Hong Kong horses produced some tremendous performances to dominate the APQEII Cup. But it was the overseas raiders that came to the fore past Sunday as Chautauqua and Maurice - two of the world’s very best horses in their respective distance categories at the moment – made no mistake and brought their connections much joy with their wins in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize and Champions Mile at Sha Tin.
Chautauqua staged a running that matched perfectly to his nickname “The Thunder from Down Under,” and the lightning symbol as on the back of his silks in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize. He showed his trademark blistering turn-of-foot and a last-to-first finish, which - in my collection of memory - is something that we have not seen in our major international races for a long long time.
Things looked a bit easier for Maurice, but it didn’t mean his performance in the Champions Mile was any less emphatic. Racing fans worldwide have been duly treated to a remarkable quartet of wins which may never again be equaled with Maurice taking the Yasuda Kinen and Mile Championship in Japan, then the LONGINES Hong Kong Mile and Champions Mile. What a run!
It was a marvelous and wonderful showcase of world-class racing at Sha Tin and it is great to see that horses from all over the world can compete here and be successful. From the Hong Kong perspective, there isn’t too much reason to be disappointed either. We saw some great promise from our younger sprinters in Lucky Bubbles, Strathmore and Amazing Kids, who caught a great deal of trouble in running. Contentment, Packing Pins and Beauty Only ran top races in defeat too. It’s pleasing for us to end our spring international features on such a high note and I surely hope we have more of the same in the future.
We are back to Happy Valley this evening. Tonight’s fourth race is the Victoria Racing Club Trophy, a Class 1 Handicap over 1,800m of the C+3 course, which has drawn a select field of nine. The pace is projected to be fairly slow. Twin Delight is likely to take a forward position, while King Genki, drawn on the inside, is another one to be amongst the leaders. Romantic Touch and Jun Huo should be forwardly placed too. Got Fly was taken back from an outside draw last time, though has been closer over this course and distance with a better barrier and that could be the case tonight with Joao Moreira drawn in two. Harbour Master, Star Majestic, Ensuring and Photon Willie will all settle well off the pace.
Got Fly is working very well at the moment and should be at peak fitness for this race. He is making only his second start in the last four months but has run with credit in his last few starts over course and distance. With a projected slow pace, he will likely be fairly close and can secure a nice position with Moreira. He is my main win and place chance. Jun Huo has climbed the ratings significantly in his last few runs and will face another test tonight. While there might be some concerns with the distance, he could get an ideal trip and is a placing chance for me. King Genki has been improved in his trackwork and gets a light weight and ideal barrier and could hold a placing.
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