I'm sure you'll all agree with me that turf quality is one of the most important factors in providing the best possible racing environment for our horses and riders. That's why we use different course settings at each race meeting to allow for turf maintenance work and recovery time. This ensures that the turf at our Sha Tin and Happy Valley racetracks is always kept in top-class condition.
I understand that many racing fans perceive that the Club should use the widest A course for all racedays on which Group races are held. In reality, though, it is not always practicable to use the A course week in and week out, given the consistently high quality of racing in Hong Kong nowadays and the importance of keeping the entire turf track running well throughout the season. Should the maintenance period be insufficient, the turf condition will deteriorate much more quickly.
Race planning and course arrangement is a very complicated issue, and it's not as simple as some have suggested. Tomorrow at Sha Tin Racecourse we will be using the A Course when the world's leading turf miler Good Ba Ba and world's leading turf sprinter Sacred Kingdom come face-to-face in the Queen's Silver Jubilee Cup – the second time in their glittering careers they have met at the intermediate distance of 1400 metres.
On the following Sunday, however, we will use the A+3 Course for our Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby raceday. I want to reassure you that this is a matter of simple logistics and does not in any way undermine the quality of our premier annual event for four-year-olds. As I previously noted in my blog, some of the nominated Derby runners have very exciting potential. But as these two Group One events are held on consecutive weeks, we have to try to strike a balance, and not sacrifice the quality of the turf track. That's why my colleagues have taken that decision and I think it's a very reasonable arrangement.
Anyway, let's get back to our races tomorrow as our top miler Good Ba Ba will be seeking his third Group One victory this season. Although it has been two months since his last appearance when he stormed to victory in the Stewards' Cup, he is still in a great form as shown by his fantastic performance in a barrier trial win at Sha Tin last week. He has already racked up a staggering 15 winners in his career, so let's see if he can add one more to the list this Sunday.
Although Good Ba Ba will be starting as odds-on favourite, I am nevertheless hopeful that our top sprinter Sacred Kingdom can show a significant improvement from his two previous outings and make this race – the final leg of the Hong Kong Speed Series this season – a worthy battle of the champions. However, one should not overlook another veteran runner Armada. He was lightly raced this season and let's see if that extra bit of freshness can help him giving a better performance tomorrow.
As for the other races on the card, I'll also be keeping my eye on Packing Supreme in Leung King Handicap. In his debut in Hong Kong last month, this Australian import finished second and just defeated by Heartline, who won three times at the distance of 1,200m this season. Packing Supreme will be featuring in the same distance tomorrow and I hope he will again deliver a decent run.
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