I had the pleasure to attend the opening ceremony of the 2017 Hong Kong Arts Festival on Thursday and enjoyed the opening show La Bayadere, performed by Germany’s Bayerisches Staatsballett (Bavarian State Ballet). This is the 45th staging of the festival, and the Club’s Charities Trust has been a partner of this highly-regarded international event since 1974.
There are few greater examples demonstrating the Club’s long-term commitment to arts and culture development. Apart from sponsoring the Festival to bring in world-class performances to Hong Kong, we also put a great deal of emphasis on the educational elements of the events, hoping to inspire the youth of Hong Kong and nurture more home-grown talent.
I hope you take the opportunity to enjoy some of the fine programmes on offer in the coming weeks. To learn more, please visit www.hk.artsfestival.org
Tomorrow brings us a cracking renewal of the HK$10 million Hong Kong Classic Cup, and a strong field of 13 are assembled for this event over 1800m. Nine of the runners from the Hong Kong Classic Mile are back, including the first six finishers and a few new faces. Refresh your memory with a replay of big win from Rapper Dragon.
The Hong Kong Classic Cup as second leg of our Four-Year-Old Classic Series is run as terms race with colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds.
The pace of this race should be on the slower side, as once again, there are no very obvious leaders amongst the field. Winner’s Way is likely to go forward and secure a good early position on the front end. California Whip and My Darling will likely slot in next with favourite Rapper Dragon in the next flight. Prawn Baba should be close too. Beauty Generation and Seasons Bloom should be midfield with Pakistan Star in danger of being caught wide, as could Eagle Way near the rear of the field. Dinozzo could be midfield or farther back.
The slow pace will favour horses who are close to the pace and will help horses who are not the strongest stayers to overcome their stamina limitations. Rapper Dragon should be well positioned and is working very well and is the horse to beat. Beauty Generation and Seasons Bloom have to overcome the handicap to come from behind but are still good place chances as is Dinozzo, who might have to come from even farther back.
Western Express has great finishing speed and should not be ruled out for a place even though I am not sure of his stamina as the pace over 1400m was ideal for him. Pakistan Star had a very tough trip last time and he seems to face the same issue this time but it will depend if he is ridden cold, as he could still surprise because this trip should be even more to his liking.
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