It's now April and we are again drawing close to the Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup day - our second international race meeting of the season. The AP QEII Cup was originally a domestic trophy race inaugurated to mark Queen Elizabeth II's visit to Hong Kong in 1975. It was subsequently held annually and became an international event in 1995. But following its elevation to International Group One status in 2001, and the incorporation of another International Group One race, the Champions Mile, into the same meeting since last year, it has emerged as one of the most important fixtures in the world racing calendar.
Earlier this week, we announced the runners nominated for these two races, which together with bring eight top-quality overseas runners to Hong Kong to take on our local elite horses on 27 April. Among the strong visitors nominated for the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup are classy Japanese runner Matsurida Gogh, winner of the Arima Kinen last year; Archipenko, a place-getter in the Dubai Duty Free last month; and New Zealand champion Sir Slick. But I think you'll agree with me that John Moore's Viva Pataca remains the horse to beat for these overseas contenders. A win will place this defending champion in the same league as Japanese star Eishin Preston, who netted back-to-back successes in the 2002 and 2003 versions of this event.
Our Club's dedication to excellence is not limited to organising top international races and attracting the world's leading horses to contest them; we are also dedicated to providing our Club Members with the very best services and facilities. I hope this mission can be further achieved with the opening of our new clubhouse in Beijing last Thursday.
I was especially delighted that Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee, Timothy Fok, President of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, and Henry Tang, Chief Secretary of the Hong Kong SAR, were able to joined the ceremony and witness the opening of this stylish venue, along with our Club Chairman John Chan, former Chairman Ronald Arculli and a host of Club Stewards and other guests. Some of the guests later became the very first to stay in the 90 guest rooms we are providing for Members at the Beijing Clubhouse. They were full of praise for the accommodation and great services offered by our staff, as well as for the elegance and luxurious settings throughout the new clubhouse. 
Making this happy occasion even more special, we also entered into an agreement with the IOC the same evening which will pave the way for development of an Olympic Museum in Hong Kong. This project signals IOC's recognition of our Club's role and contributions for the hosting of the Olympic equestrian events in Hong Kong, which I think everyone in Hong Kong would be proud of. I'm glad that the Government also offered its praises as Chief Secretary Henry Tang lauded the Club as a "valuable resource'' in Hong Kong, for the substantial contributions to Hong Kong's development and massive charitable donations in the past, along with the efforts we made in providing world-class equine facilities and equestrian venues which have helped set new standards in Olympic equestrian sport. Much as I would like to spend more time enjoying Beijing, I never like to miss the racing action in Hong Kong if I can help it, so I will back in good time for our meeting at Sha Tin today. Among the 11 races on the card, I will be interested to check out the performances of Enthused and Natural Blitz, especially the latter, as I think he is much better in the 1000M straight race at Sha Tin and I look forward to seeing a good run this afternoon.
Then on tomorrow, I'll be heading to Macau to see the return leg of this year's interport event, the 5th Macau Hong Kong Trophy at Taipa Racecourse. There are six Hong Kong runners who are now preparing for this race. With our local runners filled the first four places in the first leg in March, I hope they can deliver another great result in Macau.
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