It's been a very eventful week for me so far, as last Saturday I was in Beijing to attend a staff party with over 300 employees of our new Beijing Clubhouse, which is due to open in the coming months and will be our Club's first presence in the capital. I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet this young and energetic team, as without their professionalism and huge effort, the preparation work for this major project could not have gone as smoothly and successfully as it has.
We decided to host this party not merely to reward the Clubhouse staff for their diligence, but also to give them a chance to relax with their colleagues. They are a very passionate team and I believe they share the same vision as our existing staff, namely to make The Hong Kong Jockey Club the very best membership club in China and indeed, throughout Asia.
I enjoyed my 8-hour stay in Beijing a lot and I took the last flight back to Hong Kong so as not to miss our two major races at Sha Tin on Sunday. I think many of you would agree that Good Ba Ba again proved himself the top current miler in Hong Kong with his victory in the Citi Stewards' Cup. Meanwhile, Tony Cruz's import Helene Mascot showed racing fans that he has all the right credentials to become one of our top contenders in our Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby race in March.
I can also understand, though, that some racing fans will have felt rather disappointed by the performance of top favourite Never Look Back in the Classic Mile. I had a brief chat with his trainer Paul O'Sullivan after the race and I agree with him that the horse raced a bit too keenly after the jump. Paul told me he considers changing tactics in the horse's next run by asking the jockey to ease him and find cover. He said the former trainer of Never Look Back had the same advice too. This is a horse of undoubted quality, so let's hope he can produce a better performance next time.
Talking about performances, some of you might have already learnt that I was asked to demonstrate my rusty cooking skills alongside renowned local food critic Suzi Wong at our Chinese New Year race meeting press conference on Monday.
For a person who never cooks at home, I can tell you this was a very challenging experience. I really felt quite nervous having to take up the cooking utensils and prepare a traditional Chinese New Year dish in front of so many media guests. But I'm really the lucky one as Suzi gave me a lot of guidance. Many of the media guests assured me that the Chinese minced meat with lettuce we prepared tasted very delicious!
As for my own diary, I mentioned earlier that I've been to Beijing already this week. Now I'm off again to Ireland, as I have to attend an international symposium hosted by the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association that starts tomorrow. On Friday, there will be a panel session discussing trends in thoroughbred racing and breeding and I'm due to deliver a speech about International Racing in the 21st Century. In particular, I will share with all attending overseas racing representatives our successful experience in hosting the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races in December.
However, before I rush to Chek Lap Kok to catch the late-night flight to Dublin, I will still have time to enjoy tonight's races at Happy Valley. I will be paying special attention to Dream Horse (Race 7), as he will reunite with his best partner Christophe Soumillon, who steered him to a win at the same distance last season. I will also keep an eye on Dordenma (Race 8). He's a very consistent performer at Happy Valley, particularly at the distance of 1,650 metres in which he has earned 3 wins and 4 places in his 9 career attempts. I hope both of them will give us promising performances tonight.
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