Wednesday marks the 30th meeting since the Club imposed stringent measures to reduce raceday attendance due to the emergence of coronavirus.
In other words, a third of our entire racing season has now taken place under these essential limitations and the experience has taught us so much.
It has taught us that the teams we have in place at the Club are capable of handling major change with resilience and professionalism.
It has taught us that our valued owners and licensed professionals – including stable staff, jockeys and trainers – are equally capable of adapting to significant new challenges.
And it has taught us that, even on days when the only people at the races are owners, trainers, riders and essential officials, the appetite for Hong Kong racing from people at home and abroad remains as keen as ever.
With more than two weeks since the last case of local virus transmission, things are clearly moving in the right direction. Certain social-distancing measures will be relaxed later this week and we are in discussion with Government Departments to see how we can increase the number of people we welcome on race days, always observing principles of social distancing and other measures to uphold public health.
But even as this encouraging progress is made, we still have to ensure that none of our business activities cause a public health risk, especially when it comes to having large crowds together for a significant period.
I have received many messages from loyal customers asking about the re-opening of Off-Course Betting Branches, especially from our over two million regular Mark Six cash customers, but our return to that position has to be very carefully phased and done with complete Government Approval. Everything we have done so far and will do from now on must be carefully aligned with what Hong Kong society as a whole is doing.
It would not be responsible to press for a full resumption – and we would not get permission at this point – but we hope we can make further progress in the not too distant future. In the meantime, the continued understanding of our many followers is greatly appreciated as we move on to the final 20 meetings of our racing season.
Chefano’s win in Sunday’s G3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup was the 110th for Conghua horses, eclipsing last season’s total with more than two months of the season left. That is a notable statistic in itself and the fact that 15 of John Moore’s 41 winners have now travelled down from our Mainland base seems to suggest the environment there suits them quite well.
Our congratulations also go out to Ricky Yiu, who became only the sixth trainer to reach 800 winners in Hong Kong when the aptly-named Fabulous Eight scored on Sunday.
Ricky is now seven clear of Francis Lui at the top of the trainers’ table and in pole position to land his first title, while the fight for the jockeys’ championship took another twist at the weekend with Zac Purton riding a treble to end the day just one behind Joao Moreira, who had one winner but was also beaten on six favourites.
If there has been one single race that summed up the ongoing duel between these two world-class riders this season it was the compelling battle between Dances With Dragon and Enrichment at Happy Valley three weeks ago.
Zac just got the better of the argument that night aboard Dances With Dragon and it’s fascinating to see that both horses are back at the city track for this Wednesday’s concluding Class 2 Camellia Handicap over 1650m.
Though the margin of victory was only a head in their last encounter, Dances With Dragon had the measure of Enrichment and will do so again as a win and place chance. Enrichment has once again drawn wide which will offset the advantage of being three pounds better off at the weights.
Dances With Dragon is a Happy Valley specialist and will get a nice run from just worse than midfield. Zac will swing him out for a clear run and Dances With Dragon looks good enough to win again at the Valley despite carrying top weight.
Hezthewonforus, Happy Fun and Turin Redstar will push forward to make the running with Solar Wai Wai likely to cross over from his wide draw to secure a contending position. The pace will be good.
Enrichment has finished second in each of his last three starts and his last run showed that he can handle the city track. He is a place chance with Joao needing to work out a trip from the outside gate.
Happy Dragon returns to Happy Valley where he does his best work, has drawn a gate and will be in the mix from the outset. He is a place chance along with Enrichment’s stablemate Hezthewonforus.
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