So, World Cup 2010 is under way, but so far it's been the news about illegal bookmaking operations that have caught my greatest attention. Over the weekend police in both Hong Kong and the Mainland arrested dozens of people suspected of being linked with a bookmaking syndicate, as part of a large-scale crackdown against illegal football betting activities. Betting slips and records worth hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars were also seized.
I was awestruck to learn about the sheer scale of this cross-border syndicate, which the police say has taken in a total turnover of HK$750 million since its operations began some six months ago. Even as the police were making the arrests and conducting investigations at the scene, around 20 calls a minute were still coming in from clients who wanted to place bets with the illegal bookies on the World Cup matches.
This tells you how prevalent and how active these illegal bookmaking activities always become during the World Cup. It's not just the lost tax revenue to the Government that's a concern; what's even more worrying is that being unregulated and unchecked, illicit groups like these allow credit betting, accept bets from customers regardless of their identity or ages, as well as provide exotic bet of various types to lure more potential customers. These uncontrolled activities can lead to a lot of social problems and poses many dangers to society. But I know the police share these concerns and are putting a lot of additional efforts in combating these illicit activities. The arrests and seizure they made also proved their operation being very effective.
As a long-standing contributor to the community, we at the Club are very much aware of the importance of responsible gambling and are always mindful of our duties to the public, whether on the horse racing, Mark Six or football betting sides of our operations. Being a former professional footballer, and now a keen football fan, I enjoy watching football matches a lot but I think this popular sport should not be always linked with the ill repute. Just watching the match between Germany and Australia gave me all the excitement I needed, especially as the Mannschaft delivered an impressive display to thrash the Socceroos 4-0. I was delighted to see young German players like Thomas Muller and Mesut Ozil get off to a great start on the world stage. Their polished performances show that the youth football training system in Germany is continuing to bear fruit.
Here in Hong Kong, the football training system is nothing like so well developed at present, although we hope the Club can help change that in the coming years. The Summer Youth Football Scheme, though, which marks its 30th Anniversary this year, has proved quite successful in unearthing young talent, as its graduates include former local favourite Lee Kin-wo and reigning Hong Kong Footballer of the Year Chan Siu-ki. This year, the Club has decided to give the Scheme a further boost, and on Monday we announced a grant of HK$1.51 million to the Hong Kong Football Association for that purpose.
The Jockey Club Youth Football Scheme 2010 will provide chances for young people aged between five and 19 to receive systematic training covering basic football skills, advanced teamwork and strategy,
then inter-district and inter regional competitions. In the ceremony, I’ve also played with a few very young players and I found they are all 
very gifted and possess great football skills. I do hope this programme can encourage more young people in Hong Kong to take up the sport as players, and help them realise their footballing dreams.
Back to racing, last night we simulcast the opening day of this year’s Royal Ascot race meeting for our fans in Hong Kong to enjoy. I’m delighted with the support given by you all as the turnover for the four simulcast races on the card reached almost HK$49 million. Particularly, it was terrific to see Goldikova winning the Queen Anne Stakes – the 9th Group One title in her glittering and successful career – against another great horse Paco Boy in such a thrilling fashion. By the way, the performance of British sprinter Equiano in the King’s Stand Stakes was equally impressive. It will be interesting to see how he performs in the July Cup next month.
Tonight we will simulcast to Hong Kong another major race from the Royal Ascot meeting – the Prince of Wales’s Stakes. Some of the top middle distance performers in Europe, such as Champion Stakes winner Twice Over, Grand Prix de Paris winner Cavalryman, and our AP QEII Cup winner Presvis will be contesting this 2000m event. So please stay tuned for our broadcast tonight. Personally, I’m interested to see how Byword performs. His second to the fantastic Goldikova in his previous start, beaten only by half a length by the star racemare, has been a strong indication for the improvements he made this season. He will be partnered by upcoming jockey Maxime Guyon, a rising star which we hope to entice to come to Hong Kong. I hope this four-year-old will maintain his nice performance this time. Another Khalid Abdullah-owned runner Twice Over, and prolific filly Shalanaya, can also challenge Byword in this feature race.
Before that, this afternoon at Sha Tin we will stage the final pattern race of this season – the Group 3 Prince Jewellery & Watch Premier Cup – with established performers such as Egyptian Ra, Able One and Thumbs Up going head-to-head with rising stars like Yummy Spirit and Aashiq. It will be a fantastic race and I will be giving particular attention on Able One. With the expected good to fast pace, I think he can be well placed in the early stage of the race. Let’s see if he can deliver the same emphatic performance as he did last time in the Champions Mile. Two other John Moore-trained runners, Sunny King and Yummy Spirit, are also in nice form and capable to challenge for the prize. Thumbs Up will be making his first start after changing to his new stable and I think he can also come home with a strong late dash.
In the Franck Muller Handicap, Cheer had a sluggish start last time but he ran home strongly. Stepping up from 1200m to 1400m, this should help him giving a better performance and I think he will be the horse to beat in this event. National Treasure – coming back from a break after having a fever but performed well in a barrier trial – and other recent performers such as Winning Fellowship and Super Gentleman, will also be some other solid contenders in this race.
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