It was a joyful evening at our Happy Valley race meeting last Wednesday as our veteran trainer John Moore snatched his 1,000th career win in Hong Kong. I think you all would agree with me that it's not an easy target to achieve as unlike other racing jurisdictions like the United Kingdom and Australia where races were held almost seven days a week and round the year, there are just two weekly race meetings here in Hong Kong and a regular break during summer.
It took John 23 years to reach this milestone mark in Hong Kong racing, and I firmly believe that, John and many others who are now in our industry have been very dedicated to the sport, and have been working very hard and work with heart. It's all their tireless efforts that drive our racing standards to the international levels over these years.
I believe many of you are now spending your Easter holidays by gathering with your families, having fun with your friends, or going to the outback to enjoy some relaxing moments. I'm just doing the same and now taking a short break to recharge myself. But after the holiday, I'll proceed to Dubai in the midweek and have the chance to meet directors and representatives of different racing jurisdictions ahead of the Dubai World Cup meeting on March 29.
And surely I will also attend Saturday's race meeting, and will be among one of few in the grandstand of Nad Al Sheba Racecourse to give the loudest cheering support to four Hong Kong runners – namely Viva Pataca in Dubai Sheema Classic, Bullish Luck and Floral Pegasus in Dubai Duty Free, and Watch What Happens in Godolphin Mile. I hope you all will join me supporting all these runners to repeat last year's success, when we will simulcast the races of Dubai Sheema Classic and Dubai Duty Free to you on Saturday night.
Apart from these world-class racing, as formerly a professional footballer, I also enjoy watching those exciting football matches. Like many of you and football fans will do tonight, I will stay tune to the football channel and watch the English Premier League's clashes of the big four, as Manchester United will host Liverpool at Old Trafford, and Chelsea will face their London rival Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. United's manager Sir Alex Ferguson has been a good friend of mine and we’ve already met for a decade of time. As some of you may know, he is also a horse lover and previously owned former European top miler Rock of Gibraltar, who is currently a very popular sire in Europe.
Like his horse, the recent form of his team, in particular his ace winger-striker Cristiano Ronaldo, has been brilliant. I believe there's a good chance for his team to defeat the Kops and further consolidate their lead in the Premier League. For the London Derby, I would favour the chance of Arsenal a bit as Chelsea just engaged a very pacy and competitive match with Tottenham Hotspur, in their thrilling 4-4 draw last Wednesday.
After enjoying these two football matches, please make sure you do not get up too late tomorrow morning as we have still arranged 10 races for you all at Sha Tin Racecourse. I will be keeping an eye on the performance of Fishking Excellent (Race 4) and Red Ruler (Race 5), which will be teaming up with apprentice jockeys Thomas Yeung and Terry Wong respectively. I believe the seven-pound allowance claims given to the jockeys will bring a great relief to both horses and boosting the chances to repeat their promising performances in recent runs. Trainer Peter Ho’s ace Packing Winner (Race 8) is another horse with very impressive form. Having run nicely in his past three starts in pattern races, I think he might enjoy an advantage when returning to a handicap race and face his Class 1 opponents tomorrow.
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