HKJC CEO Blog

It has been a whirlwind few days and I only got back to Hong Kong from France on Wednesday afternoon.  It was a great trip and I have many good memories from the Arc weekend.   It was a shame that a fever prevented German runner Novellist’s participation in this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe,…

Our National Day race meeting on Tuesday proved to be very entertaining. Apart from the excellent racing action, the celebratory pre-race performances in the Parade Ring were enjoyed by many, and more than 30,000 racegoers turned up to create a fantastic racecourse atmosphere.  Those who came along saw two impressive winners in the day’s two…

Although we didn’t have any local race meeting at the weekend, we did have our first simulcasts of the season on Sunday – six races from Sprinters Stakes day in Japan and two races from Australia’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes day.  I paid particular attention to the big Japanese race as it featured last year’s LONGINES…

Over the weekend severe typhoon Usagi affected Hong Kong.  It’s fortunate that the heart of the storm just skirted away to the northeast of us and the damage it caused to our city was not as severe as anticipated.  We had been in close communication with the weather experts over the weekend and on Sunday…

Our feature race at Sha Tin on Sunday was the Kwangtung Handicap Cup, in which Same World scored a decent win to give his handler John Moore a first success this season.  The winner is a smart performer but it was two other runners, Mizani and All You Wish, who attracted strong public support. Although…

The season’s first night meeting at Happy Valley on Wednesday was another big success to follow our season opener at Sha Tin last week, as the night’s turnover of HK$876 million was the highest figure we have had for this meeting since 1997. With significant upgrades to the facilities as well as re-branding the night…

The new season formally commenced last Sunday as Hong Kong’s Acting Chief Executive Carrie Lam struck the ceremonial gong at Sha Tin racecourse.  The atmosphere was fantastic and the race meeting was a hit all round, as the day’s attendance of over 66,000 and the turnover of HK$1.032 billion were both the best figures we…

The season’s first race meeting will be held at Sha Tin Racecourse tomorrow and I can sense the excitement among race fans as the big day approaches. The Club has again been working through the summer to implement new features that will enhance the racecourse experience and for our property team in particular, it seemed…

Those of you who have followed our racing news during the summer break might recall that about a fortnight ago we covered some news about retired racehorse Super Combed.  This former Tony Cruz trainee, who was famous for his late surge in races when he was in training in Hong Kong, has been enjoying sound success in…

It is always a great pleasure to see famous sporting figures enjoying a happy and fulfilled life in retirement. As I mentioned in my last blog, I recently had the honour, along with over 60 young footballers, of meeting the legendary Manchester United and England player Sir Bobby Charlton, when he visited the Jockey Club…