The arrival of star international horses always signals that LONGINES HKIR week is at hand and it was good to see our first Japanese visitors – including last year’s Hong Kong Mile hero Admire Mars – arriving safely at Sha Tin in midweek.
The rest of our international visitors from Japan, France, Ireland and Singapore will all be on the grounds over the next day or two and then the stage will be set for a high-class renewal of the International Jockeys’ Championship and four HKIR Group 1 contests that will set a unique seal on one of the most demanding years in the history of the Club and horse racing as a whole.
No-one approaches this year’s HKIR week in better form than Joao Moreira, who rode a treble for the fourth meeting in a row at Happy Valley on Wednesday to move 20 winners clear at the top of the jockeys’ table.
Golden Sixty’s trainer Francis Lui passed a notable career milestone when Le Terroir gave him the 700th success of his career in Wednesday’s finale, while Conghua supplied another four winners in a week that saw the horse population at our Mainland base reach a record 375.
However, events taking place off the track continue to demand our attention at this vital stage of the season.
Our raceday arrangements have been tailored to suit the ongoing challenge of Covid-19 for the best part of a year now and the recent escalation in cases means that we have had to revert to a system whereby only essential personnel plus owners with starters and family members who have advance bookings approved by the Club will be able to attend the racecourse.
The need to minimise risk to all our customers and staff takes precedence over everything at a time like this but, by continuing racing, the Club is able to make significant contributions to helping those members of society who are enduring hard times due to the pandemic.
Our launch of a new initiative under the Jockey Club Food Assistance Programme this week provided a good example of this. Evidence shows that a lot of Hong Kong citizens have become unemployed or underemployed this year and that many of them have homebound family members with limited cooking space.
Resources will be mobilised to ensure that many of these people will be able to order meals free via an online platform for eight consecutive weeks. This takes the Club’s total approved funding for Covid-related relief initiatives to over HK$600 million and we will continue to do everything possible to continue our community contributions for as long as our assistance is needed.
The Class 2 Ashley Handicap is the final race of a Sunday race meeting that features six races on the dirt, this one over 1200 metres. This is a tradition as the Club limits the number of races on turf to a minimum one week prior to HKIR.
Winner Supreme will go forward from his inside draw as he returns to his preferred track with Larson flanked to his outside. These two will set a good pace.
Will Power has won five of eight races over the track and distance, including both of his starts this season. He is in top form and will get a nice run midfield under regular jockey Karis Teetan. He is a place chance.
Encore Boy was sharp in his seasonal debut when he covered ground and fought on to finish second behind Will Power in this same grade. Moreira picks up the ride and will need to work out a trip from a tricky draw. Encore Boy is a win and place chance.
Red Desert is working very well but has to overcome being drawn in gate 11. He has good form on the surface and is a place chance along with Winner Supreme.
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