In recent years, my life has pivoted around a heavy workload. However, I still manage to squeeze in some time to attend morning trackwork, and always enjoy watching the horses in action with my binoculars which has become my good companion for more than 30 years.
Many of my friends have asked me "How come your binoculars are bundled with loads of admission badges?" I tell them that I have visited a great many racecourses around the world over the years and the admission badges represent a collection of my memories.
During the week leading up to the Hong Kong International Races, I had my binoculars ready for trackwork almost every morning. A bit differently from previous years, though, I was taking my first early morning footsteps at the Olympic equestrian venue in Sha Tin rather than the racecourse. This was because all the overseas runners were staying at the Olympic Equestrian Stables, and every morning they headed out from those stables to the Equestrian Arena for warm-up exercises before trotting on the racecourse itself.
I had the chance to chat with many of the overseas stables staff and was very glad to learn that the Olympic Equestrian Stables and our other racing and equestrian venues had left a good impression on them. I heard a lot of acclamation about the superb facilities. And I was especially happy this week to see those accolades echoed in an article written by a respected veteran US racing journalist after his visit to the International Races last week. Allow me to quote here some of his comments:
"Sha Tin is without question the best racing facility built anywhere in the last 50 years"
"...the meticulous and detailed dissemination of the most detailed racing information, the tracks in Hong Kong set a standard on behalf of horseplayers, the most important patrons of the sports, unimagined in the United States."
It's wonderful to read comments like this, and it tells me that the hard work put in by all our people at the Club has really paid off. Once again, they have demonstrated Hong Kong's can-do-spirit and won applause from our overseas guests and local fans alike.
As you may know, in the coming months we are organising a series of equestrian competitions at the Olympic equestrian venue next to Sha Tin Racecourse on those Sundays when there is no horse racing. It will be amazing to see top class racing and equestrian sports conducted in the same area, albeit not on the same day. I would venture to say that Hong Kong is the first city in the world that has blended both equine sports into each other so well. I hope that more and more local residents and visitors will come to Sha Tin in the future to enjoy these impressive facilities.
The excellent performance of our home team in the Hong Kong International Races is still keeping me thrilled. On the other hand, I've been extremely disappointed with the performance of German football clubs in this year's UEFA Champions League as Schalke 04 is the only German team to qualify for the knockout stage. Though the performance of the German team has let me down, I still believe that Germany is one of the powerhouses in world football.
I think I should now switch my focus back to horse racing, though, as we will be having a Saturday meeting at Sha Tin today. Personally, I like Prime Delight and Unique Jewellery in race 3 and 7 respectively, and I wish every lady has her “unique jewellery” for a “delighted” Christmas!
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