Yesterday we simulcast the Melbourne Cup raceday to Hong Kong. Sadly I was not able to have a very good study on the form of the Australian horses and my analysis for the Melbourne Cup race proved not good enough. I've watched the replay of the race and in fact, I think most jockeys did not expect it to be run in a leisurely pace, which is one of the slowest for a long time. Perhaps this factor has affected favourite runners like Viewed and Roman Emperor, deprived of the chance and failed to perform in this event.
Perhaps those racing fans who were watching our simulcasts in our off-course betting branches, would have more time to study the race form and enjoyed better results than mine. So it seems I'll have to put more effort into studying the Australian formbook in future! But still, I'm sure you will all have enjoyed the very exciting races we saw at this major annual event, and noted the huge crowd that was gathered at Flemington for what is always one of the world's great racing carnivals.
I'm glad that our racing fans in Hong Kong can now enjoy the same kind of atmosphere at our two racecourses throughout the racing season. At Happy Valley there is always a party atmosphere in the Beer Garden, while Sha Tin Racecourse really comes to life at special meetings like the Sa Sa Ladies' Purse Day, the Chinese New Year raceday, the Mercedes-Benz Hong Kong Derby raceday and, of course, the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races and Audemars Piguet Queen Elizabeth II Cup meetings.
To ensure the long-term sustainability of our racing business, it is vitally important that we keep enhancing the quality of our racing product, the appeal of watching the races live, and the enjoyment of racing atmosphere on course. My colleagues and I spend many long hours addressing this issue. I welcome you all to share your thoughts and ideas with us on how we can broaden the appeal and attractiveness of the races and the racecourses. You are welcome to leave your messages here.
Tonight we shall be hosting our first Sha Tin night meeting of the season on the all-weather track – the first of three all-weather track meetings we've scheduled for this season. Our Tracks Department has taken this opportunity to plant winter grass on the turf tracks at both Sha Tin and Happy Valley.
We have a team of very experienced staff to take care of our racetracks both before and after races, to ensure our racehorses and jockeys can compete in the safest and best environment. Once the temperature starts to drop with the arrival of autumn, it severely hinders the growth of summer grass on the turf tracks. That's why we need to plant some winter grass, too, which will ensure that the turf track can stay in good condition and provide a cushion effect for the safety of our racehorses.
For the eight races on the all-weather track tonight, I will be paying close attention to the Fakei Cup. I expect it to be a very competitive race as many of the runners are in great forms recently. It's not surprising that True Intelligence, who had a winner and two runner-ups in his three previous starts at the all weather track – currently being the top favourite. But I'll focus more on the performance of Exploding. This prolific dirt performer bagged three winners for his trainer Peter Ng last season. Having performed nicely in his season debut for a third-place finish last time, the horse will be partnered by in-form rider Keith Yeung tonight and I'd like to see if he can produce even better performance this evening. Other in-form horses like Ocean Tranquil and Century Super Star also have chances to finish close in this race.
The Los Angeles Handicap is another very open race in tonight's card. I'll be watching the performance of Go Fay Fay, as many progenies from his sire Elusive City, performs very well on dirt. His Hong Kong debut three weeks ago was also impressive and I'm interested to see how he runs tonight. For other runners in this race, I think recent performers like Diamond Knight, Special K, and Mutual Friendship are all capable to challenge Go Fay Fay.
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