If you have closely followed local sports news, I’m sure you noticed our Hong Kong athletes fared quite well in recent meets such as the World University Games held in Taipei and the National Games in Tianjin. They won a total of four medals in the Universiade and 16 medals in the National Games, representing Hong Kong’s best ever performance in both Games. The Club’s supported equestrian riders Jacqueline Siu and Clarissa Lyra are also among the awardees.
This afternoon I will meet some of the award-winning swimming, tennis, wushu and fencing athletes at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, honoring their outstanding achievements in the Jockey Club Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme presentation ceremony.
Sport has always been one of the four strategic areas for the HKJC Charities Trust donations. In 1977, the Club funded the establishment of what was then called the Jubilee Sports Centre, which was finished in 1982, and renamed the Hong Kong Sports Institute in 1991. This included funding the costs of reclaiming the land to the construction of the centre, as well as the operating deficit and capital expenditures for 10 years. In 1986, we injected HK$350 million to an endowment fund for our athletes. Last year the Trust donated more than HK$18 million to the Sports Institute to support this newest award scheme for three years. In the last decade, the Club’s donations to sport-related projects was more than HK$2 billion, plus our HK$1.2 billion contribution to the 2008 Beijing Olympics equestrian events.
We believe it is important to support athletes achieving high performance, their relentless efforts inspiring the public, creating pride and bringing the community together to celebrate their achievements. Our sporting idols instill the positive values of sport into the community and motivate the public to become more active.
On racing, our new trainer Michael Freedman opened his Hong Kong winning account with a double from Silverfield and Endearing at Sha Tin on Sunday. It is great to see Michael hit the ground running and it is surely a welcome boost to his team. Michael now has two wins from his first six starters, which is a strong start with such a limited number of runners thus far. Our other newest trainer, Frankie Lor, is also off to a quick start with five wins from 23 runners, including four placings as well.
Tonight we will host our regular fixture at Happy Valley and the Class 3 Citi Sprint Challenge Cup handicap is our feature race of the night and the pace is expected to be good. The Racing Club runner, Young Empire, went all the way last time and is the expected leader with Grace Heart likely to go forward too. Bond Elegance should get a nice spot on the inside tracking the speed with Healthy Luck, who could be caught wide, in the next flight. Breeders’ Star should sit midpack with Starlight and Brave Legend nearby.
Three runners in this very competitive field are coming in off course and distance wins this season already, with Starlight the only one of the three moving up in class. He was an easy winner last out and with a good draw, should be very competitive in this race and is a win and place chance. Brave Legend was most impressive when providing a bit of a surprise last time and has been fine in his trackwork. Even though he carries nine pounds more tonight, he is still my narrow win and place selection. Bond Elegance was wide last time and now is drawn the rail with Moreira staying aboard and is another with a big chance tonight. Breeders’ Star encountered some traffic late in his last race and is a placing hope.
Comment
