HKJC CEO Blog

Those of you who patronised our Off-Course Betting Branches on Tuesday might have found you had wait in line behind some fairly lengthy queues.  We saw a huge number of extra customers coming along that day to buy Mark Six tickets, all hoping to fulfil their dreams of overnight riches after a jackpot of HK$57…

At Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday we saw our reigning Horse of the Year Ambitious Dragon trounced 13 top-class opponents to win the first leg of the Triple Crown – the Hong Kong Group 1 Stewards’ Cup over 1600m.  Jockey Douglas Whyte had him positioned three wide early in the race and appeared to need…

Even though I grew up in Europe where the winter weather can get quite harsh, I must admit that I haven't enjoyed the cold, wet and miserable conditions of the past few days at all!  It's a particular shame that this unusually chilly spell has coincided with Chinese New Year, when people like to get…

Kung Hei Fat Choy!  It’s great to be talking to you through my blog for the first time in the Year of the Dragon.  May I first of all wish you and your families a healthy and prosperous year ahead. Dragons appear in many diverse cultures around the world, which makes you wonder whether they are…

The grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in Italy has become a top international news story over the past week.  I expect many of you will have been shocked to see such a huge vessel capsize as easily as it did.  It's even more shocking to learn that the ship’s captain was reportedly to…

Despite the damp and miserable weather, there was a decent attendance and an electrifying atmosphere at Sha Tin Racecourse on Sunday as we hosted the Kent & Curwen Centenary Sprint Cup – our only 1000m Hong Kong Group 1 event of the season.  And the racing action didn't disappoint, with just half a length separating…

Apart from working on racing matters, I've attended a few events this week related to other aspects of the Club's support for the community.  One was the FEI Children’s International Classics Final 2011 being held at our Beas River Country Club from Tuesday until today.  This is the first time this international jumping event, which…

The World Thoroughbred Rankings for 2011 were announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities last night, and I'm thrilled to learn that we have a record 21 Hong Kong horses on the list, surpassing our previous best tally in 2010 by two.Numerically we again sit in 6th in order behind major racing powers including…

Although Italy is not as well known in the modern racing world as other European powers like Britain, France, Germany and Ireland, horse racing there has a very long history, dating back to Roman times.  It remains a popular sport among Italians today and there are racetracks in many parts of the country, the best…

I expect that most of you are now back at work after enjoying an extended New Year's weekend with your friends and families.  For me, work began on the first day of 2012, as I needed to be on duty to welcome our guests at the New Year's Day race meeting at Sha Tin, though…