The adverse weather last weekend put a damper on many activities including our Standard Chartered Champions and Chater Cup raceday, as persistent downpours in the Sha Tin area on Sunday afternoon created extremely wet track conditions. We recorded an incredible 138.8 millimetres of rainfall during the afternoon.
In such an extreme environment, both the jockeys and horses become exposed to potential safety risks, no matter whether they are raced up front or held at the back of the pack, as visibility was serious affected. In addition, several jockeys also told us their mounts were struggling to get a footing on the waterlogged track.
We always view the safety of our jockeys and racehorses as top priority. Although calling off the racing will affect our turnover and the revenues we contribute to public revenue and to charities, safety issues can never be compromised. With the Observatory expecting persistent rainfall to continue, our racing officials eventually decided to abandon the last two races on the programme. I know this decision will have disappointed some of our racing fans, but I hope you will give us your understanding. I'd like to take this opportunity in thanking you all for your support.
I know many of our racing fans are also football lovers, and will be supporting their favourite national football teams in the FIFA World Cup 2010 which kicks off in South Africa on 11 June. From past experience, we know that illegal betting and bookmaking activities become much more active during major international football tournaments like this, as some fans are tempted to patronise illegal betting websites locally or online bookmakers offshore. In curbing such illegal acts, the Hong Kong Police announced on Monday they had set up a special task force to promote anti-illegal gambling and co-ordinate related operations in different districts.
One of the major efforts of the task force will be to disseminate anti-gambling messages among local schools and students so as to deter underage gambling, as unlike the Club, illegal operators do not care to have controls in place to prevent the underaged from placing bets. In addition, the Police will stage anti-illegal gambling campaigns at local cafés, bars and shopping malls, as well as at cinemas that will carry live broadcasts of key World Cup football matches in the coming weeks.
The police have warned that they will also monitor local websites and exchange intelligence with overseas law enforcement authorities to combat illegal betting and bookmaking activities. Furthermore, they will co-operate with organisations such as the Ping Wo Fund and the Home Affairs Bureau to urge people not to engage in illegal football betting activities online.
We very much agree with and support this proactive approach by the police in combating illegal betting, as the Club is the organisation in Hong Kong who provides a legal and regulated platform to meet public demand for football betting. We are also committed in adopting the policy of responsible gambling including adult access control and not offering credit betting to our customers. By doing so, we hope we can minimise serious social problems such as underage gambling and loansharking activities. In the meantime, the Club is now the biggest contributor to the Ping Wo Fund, which was set up to mitigate problem gambling and provide counselling services to problem gamblers. We will continue to increase our contributions and the amount will reach HK$145 million by 2013.
And, of course, money bet with illegal operators instead of through the authorised channel means a loss of tax revenue for Hong Kong and a reduced surplus for the Club to donate to charities. So I do hope that while our local football fans enjoying the fun of the World Cup, some of those who want to bet on the matches will bet through the legal channels as provided by the Club.
Back to racing, let's hope the weather improves a bit for our return to racing at Happy Valley tonight, so that you can enjoy different football-themed activities and action in the Beer Garden and other outdoor locations in our “Shoot For Glory” race night. Among the eight races on the card, I will be watching how Tai Sing Yeh performs in the Lai Chi Chong Handicap.
This three-year-old has already racked up five winners at Happy Valley this season, seeing his rating rose to 104 at the moment. With Brett Prebble on board, the main danger could probably be the soft track on which he has not raced before, but I will still see if he can make it six in this six-furlong event. Among other opponents, Always Something, who was quite reliable at this distance, Vital Flyer, who snatched his maiden win in Hong Kong at the same distance in his penultimate start, and High Point, who finished quite close in all his recent starts, are other capable contenders in this race.
In the Pak Sha O Handicap, it appears to be a very competitive field, but I would be interested to see how First In Command runs in this 1200m event. This John Moore-trained runner performed impressively in his maiden victory at Happy Valley last time. Having proved that he can handle the softer track condition, I think he will be one of the top contenders in this race tonight. But before that, he shall need to resist the challenges of distance performers like Sean Wood’s Confucius Classic, Dennis Yip’s High Return, and younger prospect Mr Vigorous. Although Me Tsui’s Super Plus had a heart irregularity record in his last race in March, he trialled convincingly two weeks and appeared to have recovered for this setback. I’ll also see if he will spring a surprise in this race.
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