We had more than 21,000 racegoers on track at our final Happy Wednesday meeting of the season earlier this week and they were treated to some phenomenal finishes. Happy Valley Racecourse is a real treasure and an incredibly popular tourist attraction, and I was delighted to see so many enjoying the fun and games in the Beer Garden, adrenaline, and throughout the entire facility. The jockeys who joined our post-race party at adrenaline described the atmosphere as sensational, electrifying and unique in the world. Happy Wednesday has become a worldwide brand, especially with the Beer Garden combining horse racing and entertainment between races as an experience which appeals to a younger audience from Hong Kong and tourists who see Happy Valley as a “must-visit.” The additional race meetings this season were predominantly held as Happy Valley night meetings, which have helped to promote Hong Kong worldwide.
Last night we hosted our annual Champion Awards ceremony, honoring many of our best-performed horses and horsemen this season. The late Rapper Dragon was the big winner of all as he was crowned Horse of the Year and Champion Middle-distance Horse. Although he did not have a long local career, his unprecedented success in our 4YO Classic Series, capped by his BMW Hong Kong Derby win, along with a key victory in the Chairman’s Trophy where he defeated five other Champion Awards nominees, was more than enough to earn the title as Hong Kong’s overall champion for the season. Even Pakistan Star’s very close second in the APQEII Cup flattered the Rapper Dragon form given the latter’s dominance in the Classic Series.
Rapper Dragon was also the pick of the racing fans, named as Hong Kong’s Most Popular Horse too. I offered my many congratulations to his Owner, Albert Hung, on what was surely a night of mixed emotions.
The night was filled with great camaraderie from the racing fraternity. It was nice to see the connections of Able Friend receive a Lifetime Achievement Award. Aerovelocity received recognition for his full career as well, and was also named Champion Sprinter after a gritty win in the Hong Kong Sprint, which was the world’s highest-rated sprint race in 2016. Werther earned Champion Stayer honours to go with his Middle-Distance and Horse of the Year trophies from last year while Beauty Only’s consistency was feted as our Champion Miler.
The action continues tomorrow at Sha Tin where we will stage the final 11 races of the season and after those contests, we will present our remaining awards, including the Most Popular Jockey and the Tony Cruz Award. In the meantime all our jockeys will say farewell to all racing fans on the track. I hope you will join us for this very last meeting before enjoying your summer break.
The Sha Tin Mile Trophy is our feature race of the day, with eight runners contesting this competitive Class 1 handicap as race eight. Having a rating band of 115 to 90 and the top rated horse in the field, Horse Of Fortune having a rating of 115 means that King Genki and Anticipation, rated 92 and 91, respectively, will have raised the weight they carry to 113 at declaration time.
The projected pace for this race would be good and the speed map shapes up in a simple fashion. Time Warp, who has raced forward and won his last two starts at Happy Valley, should go on to the lead again. Beat The Clock and Romantic Touch should track with King Genki and Anticipation behind. Horse Of Fortune and Supreme Profit likely come next, behind the midpack horses, with Booming Delight settling off the pace. The good pace should give every horse a good chance to perform at his best.
Horse Of Fortune works very well and is in terrific form but I prefer him over 1800m than 1600m. Booming Delight is working very well too, is in good form, and is proven over 1600m which seems to be his best distance, which makes him a clear choice for a win or at least a place. His main opponent is, in my view, Beat The Clock, who is only a 3-year-old but gets on a six-pound weight advantage via his handicap mark. He tries the 1600m for the first time, but I still see him as my first choice because I think he has even more potential.
Romantic Touch should not be underestimated as well as Time Warp, who has found form lately for a place.
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