I'm sure you all enjoyed a lot the 11 races and varied entertainment programmes we arranged for the Chinese New Year race meeting at Sha Tin last Saturday. It made a very auspicious start to the Year of the Rat as some 86,000 people came along to enjoy the festivities, while turnover reached a season high of $1.13 billion. It's also the highest turnover among our Chinese New Year race meetings in the past five years since the 2002/03 racing season.
What made me even happier, though, was seeing so many of our racing fans and visitors show their support for our Action Red Packets campaign, by kindly donating their lai see money when entering the racecourse. Our trainers and jockeys gave their full support to our fund-raising drive, too. I want to offer you all my sincere thanks for your staunch support, which will help Hong Kong share some warmth and love with its compatriots on the Mainland who have been battered by the recent snowstorms.
Tonight will be another race meeting filled with love, as Happy Valley Racecourse will be turned into a romantic venue on the eve of St Valentine's Day. We have given tonight's meeting the theme "In Love with Racing", as we hope that apart from providing you with some fascinating horse races, it can also be an occasion for all racing fans to be together with their loved ones at the racecourse, so as to experience this special night and celebrate the Valentine's Day.
You will see that we have adorned the Beer Garden with fragrant roses and lush plants to creating a wonderful, romantic atmosphere. You can also take the opportunity to send Valentine messages to your loved ones on the diamond vision screen, and take part in the "Vote for My Beloved Jockey" game to win attractive prizes. And if you want to make it a really special occasion, you can join the Lovaholic Party at our cocktail venue adrenaline, where you can enjoy enticing music, signature cocktails and themed food treats right through into the small hours. Whatever your choice, I hope you all will love our programmes and make the most of this very romantic night out at Happy Valley.
When it come to picking winning horses, though, it is usually better to follow the formbook and cast emotions aside. For the eight races on tonight's card, I will be paying special attention to Amazing Choisir (Race 5) and Chater Silk (Race 6) as both horses are in nice form, with consistent performance in recent runs.
Comment
