| HONG KONG shines when it comes to International Racing |
 |
 |
 |
|
HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL DAY: SHA TIN - SUNDAY DECEMBER 13 AUSTRALIAN horse racing enthusiasts who have travelled to some of the great international meetings like the Dubai World Cup, Kentucky Derby, Royal Ascot, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Japan Cup and Hong Kong International insist there is one standout. With no disrespect to some of the biggest draw-cards in world racing, seasoned overseas travellers insist that Hong Kong International Day at Sha Tin is the best meeting outside Australia where Melbourne Cup week remains their all-time favourite. For those who love to Getaway and Go Racing, Hong Kong is more exciting and enchanting than any other international venue. Apart from Dubai, no other centre successfully attracts the world best to a series of races on the one spectacular day.
The tourist attractions of Hong Kong are too endless to individualise. Visits to the Peak, cruises on the magnificent Harbour and a bus ride to the Stanley markets are a must. But for mum there is shopping to die for and a new Disneyland attraction to cater for the kids. The family can even take a day shopping or tourist trip into China. HISTORY OF CATHAY PACIFIC HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL RACES THE Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International race meeting is one of the most important fixtures for the world's leading horses, jockeys, trainers and owners, attracting thousands of international race fans to Sha Tin for Hong Kong's largest sporting event. CATHAY PACIFIC HONG KONG CUP FEW racing events in the world match the prominence and prestige accorded the HK$20 million Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, the world’s richest turf race over 2000m and the finale of the World Racing Championships.
The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup pre-dates the World Racing Championship and the current trend towards racing’s globalisation by more than a decade. It was first staged as the Hong Kong Invitation Cup in January 1988 when overseas entries were confined to Malaysia and Singapore. In January 1989, the Hong Kong Cup’s invitation list was expanded to include horses from Australia and New Zealand. The following season, the meeting was brought forward by a month to its current slot in mid-December – where it has remained except for the 1992/93 season when the International Races were staged in April. In that year, the race was granted international G3 status. In 1994, the race attained G2 status, marking the beginning of an international dominance with invitations extended to the world's best. The event was granted full G1 ranking in 1999 and became the final leg of the inaugural Emirates World Series. The Cup’s distance was increased the same year to 2000m from 1800m. No horse has ever been able to win the Hong Kong Cup twice, nor has any trainer or owner yet achieved two Hong Kong Cup wins. CATHAY PACIFIC HONG KONG MILE FORMERLY known as the Hong Kong Invitation Bowl, the race debuted in 1991. It was re-named the Hong Kong International Bowl in 1992.
The event was granted international G3 ranking in 1994 and was further upgraded to G2 level the next year. The race was re-named Hong Kong Mile in 1999 and increased to 1600m from the old distance of 1400m. Australian galloper, Monopolize, remains the only horse to have twice won the race and Grahame Begg the only trainer to achieve dual triumphs. In the millennium year, the race was granted G1 status while the stakes money was increased to HK$10 million. The race that year became one of the most famous ever staged in Hong Kong with a gripping duel between Australasian champion mare Sunline and Fairy King Prawn, the home-based hero. In 2001, Eishin Preston came from last and widest turning for home to bag the spoils for Japan. He returned to Sha Tin to claim a brace by winning the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup (G, 2000m) four months later. Hong Kong secured a home quinella in 2002 and again in 2003. The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Mile has consistently lured many of the greatest milers and middle-distance runners from throughout the globe and now has a purse of HK$14m (US$1.8m), seven times higher than when first run 14 years ago. CATHAY PACIFIC HONG KONG INTERNATIONAL VASE THE Hong Kong International Vase was introduced as a third international race in December 1994, and has always been contested over 2400m. A track record time of 2 min 25:1 sec marked the first edition of the Vase, won by Red Bishop for French-based trainer John Hammond and jockey Cash Asmussen. Britain-trained Luso is the only horse to have won the Vase more than once - with Frankie Dettori in the saddle in 1996, when the race was accorded G2 status, and under Mick Kinane in 1997. Hong Kong's only Vase victory arrived in 1998 when Indigenous got home by a neck from Darazari for jockey Douglas Whyte and training maestro Ivan Allan. Trained by Sir Michael Stoute, Daliapour was ridden by Johnny Murtagh to claim the title in 2000 when the Vase was upgraded to a G1 event, with the prize money also being boosted to HK$10 million. CATHAY PACIFIC HONG KONG SPRINT
THE Hong Kong Sprint was added to the Hong Kong International Race roster in 1999 and has carried Listed status from the start. Even then it was the richest sprint of its kind in the world. The race was upgraded to G3 in 2000, G2 in 2001 and acquired G1 status in 2002. In the debut of the race, Fairy King Prawn, one of the most brilliant horses ever trained in Hong Kong, scored for local trainer Ricky Yiu and jockey Steven King. It is well worth noting the speed influence of Australian-bred horses in this race – every one of the six renewals to date has gone to horses raised in that country. Falvelon, trained by Dan Bougoure in Queensland, annexed the Sprint both in 2000 and 2001 with Damien Oliver in the saddle. It was then the local stranglehold commenced. Ridden by Gerald Mosse, All Thrills Too was always holding fellow Hong Kong runner Firebolt in the 2002 edition to give David Hayes his first and only success in an international race as a Hong Kong trainer. The reign of Silent Witness as the world’s leading turf sprinter kicked off by winning this race in 2003 and was further secured by a back-to-back victory in 2004. The Cathay Pacific Hong Kong International Races in 2009 will take place at Sha Tin on Sunday 13 December.
THE 2009-10 SEASON IS HKJC LANDMARK 125th ANNIVERSARY
A landmark campaign for Hong Kong racing opened spectacularly at Sha Tin in September with the occasion very much themed by the HKJC 125th anniversary season.
The Honorable Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and also the Patron of the Club, performed the striking of the ceremonial gong in the parade ring to declare the new term underway. This was preceded by a splendid lion dance featuring 125 lions, one for each season of the Club's illustrious history, and Mr Tsang, accompanied by the Club's Chairman, Mr John C C Chan, officiated at the eye-dotting ceremony. The feature race, named after the guest of honor, the HKSAR Chief Executive's Cup, producing a thrilling finish with Nightlign winning by a nose from Tuscan Spirit. Favorite Medic Power was a close third. Training honors on the day went to Tony Cruz and John Moore, who both prepared trebles. Cruz’s winners were partnered by Matthew Chadwick. Last season's champion apprentice scooped the Jockey Challenge in the process. Over 49,000 race fans were on hand to welcome back Hong Kong's number one sporting passion, while betting turnover amounted to HK$833m compared to HK$830.6m for the corresponding fixture in 2008. RACING IN HONG KONG RATED AMONG THE BEST IN THE WORLD WRITING in The South China Morning Post, leading Hong Kong racing writer, Murray Bell, painted a bright future for the sport at the start of the current season: ‘Having ground out a more-than-satisfactory result in 2008-09 against the dire background of the global economic crisis, the Jockey Club is already looking at some pivotal big-picture strategies for the new term. The coming season will represent the Jockey Club’s 125th anniversary and Chief Executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges intends to use the energy and goodwill created by the occasion as a springboard to bigger things in the immediate future. Engelbrecht-Bresges isn’t one to let the grass grow under his feet. In fact, in an increasingly green world there could even be protests that he never gives the blades an even break at all. Less than 24 hours after (last season’s) Sha Tin finale (in early July), the captain and crew were locked in planning and strategy meetings at the Sports Road headquarters. “We are looking to the future and I’m particularly interested to discover ways to make the racing product more attractive,” he said. “We have come off a successful season and we must now identify the major issues that will help us grow our business and build towards the future. “One of the lessons of the past few years is that there are clearly differentiated customer segments and that we must be careful not to mix them. “We want to develop a program to attract and retain new customers, including those that are more leisure and fun oriented, with a lighter understanding of the racing product.” The Chief Executive hopes the current season may also see the arrival of commingling and typically takes the optimistic view that the Home Affairs Bureau and the Treasury will give the club a good hearing over something that is, after all, mere common sense. For those unfamiliar with the issue, some five years ago Engelbrecht-Bresges spun a breathtaking vision of a world where Hong Kong was the best racing-wagering product available and punters from all over the world were betting into our pools, i.e. commingling of monies from different countries, and the profits and taxes were shared between the host and the country of origin of the bet. The rest of the world was captivated by the vision and ran with it, and many countries are now living the commingling dream. It is one of the cruel realities of the racing business today that Hong Kong is still unable to commingle because of the intransigence of our government and bureaucracy. Politicians and bureaucrats are still apparently unable to see that half the taxes on fresh, untapped, foreign investment into Hong Kong racing is infinitely better than 100 per cent of nothing, which is what their policy is generating at the moment. “Commingling will become a key issue because at the moment it’s something that’s damaging our international reputation,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “We hope to be able to convince the government that commingling will represent a perfect win-win arrangement for all parties.” At the coal face, the HKJC is conscious of a shift in the structure of the jockey ranks, due firstly to the success of the program of extended claims for local riders and the emergence of quality local talents such as Matthew Chadwick and Derek Leung Ka-chun, who won 71 races between them last season. “It's a balancing act, I know, and our Executive Director of Racing, Bill Nader, will be doing some serious thinking on the subject,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. “But having world-class, foreign jockeys has always been an important part of the fabric of racing here. “Not long ago, the expatriates were dominating and the locals looked like they were getting squeezed out. Now there is a growing focus on the claiming riders and the whole scene has turned around. It’s an issue we need to think carefully about because there’s no doubt it is becoming increasingly difficult to attract the top-class jockeys to come here.” SOME PAST AND PRESENT STARS OF HONG KONG RACING HORSES IN HONG KONG ALL horses racing in Hong Kong are imported – there are no local breeding programs. Nowadays, around three-fifths of the 1200 or so Hong Kong stabled racehorses are imported from either Australia or New Zealand. Around a fifth comes from the United States, 10 per cent from Ireland and the remainder from France, the United Kingdom and South Africa. Many of the top jockeys are also imported from South Africa, Australia, France, Britain and Ireland. Local riders have become more competitive since apprenticeship training was introduced during the late 1990s. HONG KONG’S STAR JOCKEY DOUGLAS WHYTE THERE is no disputing that Douglas Whyte is Hong Kong’s best jockey. His riding record will stand for some time and there is a good chance it may never be threatened. Whyte has won nine straight riding championships and has ridden over 1100 winners in Hong Kong – which is a truly outstanding achievement in any country. Being such a powerful riding force, Whyte also has a significant impact on most races in which he rides. This influence often affects the odds of his mounts. Whyte started riding in Hong Kong in the 1996-97 racing season and has amassed an amazing Win-Strike Rate of close to 16 per cent – basically twice the winning average of all jockeys in that same period. HONG KONG’S FAVORITE RACEHORSE SILENT WITNESS HONG Kong punters adore their top horses and arguably the best of these has been Silent Witness which won 17 consecutive sprint races.
Such was the popularity of Silent Witness that the HKJC created a web-site for him and merchandised products around him. The day that Silent Witness won his 17th consecutive race, the HKJC gave commemorative caps to race-goers, which led to a riot and some punters were trampled. Silent Witness won back-to-back Hong Kong Sprints in 2003 and 2004. He also won six other major G1 sprints in 2004 and 2005. After 17 consecutive wins he attempted the Champions Mile in May 2005 and was beaten in a photo by Bullish Luck. For the three years from 2003 to 2005, the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities in Paris ranked Silent Witness the world’s fastest sprinter. He was eventually retired in February 2007 and now resides at Living legends, the International Home of Rest for Champion Racehorses located in Woodlands Historic Park near Melbourne, Australia. TOP TRAINER AND OWNER POPULAR WITH THE HK PUNTERS TOP trainer John Moore and leading owner Stanley Ho were over the moon when their star galloper, Viva Pataca, was named Hong Kong Horse of the Year for 2008-09. “I am very delighted my horse, Viva Pataca, has been voted Horse of the Year after waiting for four years,” said a proud Mr Ho, breaking with a long-standing tradition of giving his acceptance speech in English rather than Cantonese. “I’d like to thank my many supporters, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, my trainer John Moore and all his staff,” said Mr Ho, who had finally erased the pain of Viva Pataca’s surprise defeat by Vengeance of Rain for Horse of the Year honors in 2007. There was even further reason for the all-conquering team of Ho and Moore to celebrate with seven-time Group One winner Viva Pataca also winning the annual awards for Champion Middle Distance Horse and Champion Stayer. For Moore, it was something of a consolation prize after Caspar Fownes wrenched last season’s trainer’s title from his grasp, but the Australian horseman was still thrilled his all-time favorite Viva Pataca had finally been properly acknowledged. “It's been long overdue,” Moore said. “He's always been my hero but not been a public hero like some others. Probably the reason for that is he missed out winning the big race in Dubai (second in the 2008 Dubai Sheema Classic), which would have given him the Horse of the Year title at that time. I think as a result he fell back in comparison to other horses as far as the public was concerned. “(This time) the votes were in his favor and I want to say thanks to all concerned and to Dr Ho for giving us the budget that allowed us to get a horse of this calibre. It’s been a magical trip and it’s not over yet – we’ve still got next season with him.”
Collection won last season’s Hong Kong Derby brilliantly from Thumbs Up but was then unplaced in the Champions Mile and third in the Champions & Chater Cup in May to Viva Pataca. The outstanding stayer did not emerge with a clean sweep, however, as members of the public voted for Sacred Kingdom ahead of him as the Most Popular Horse. With more than 190,000 votes registered, Sacred Kingdom held a margin over Viva Pataca of 2,634 votes. Previous Horse of the Year, Good Ba Ba, was again named Champion Miler, while Sacred Kingdom again got the nod as Champion Sprinter. All three star gallopers retained their places in the official World Thoroughbred Rankings. Caspar Fownes was crowned Hong Kong’s Champion Trainer for a second time, Douglas Whyte won his ninth Champion Jockey Award and Matthew Chadwick was Champion Apprentice after posting a new record of 43 wins. Despite giving away a huge start after on-line voting ceased, Whyte rallied strongly to narrowly beat Brett Prebble as the Most Popular Jockey registering 65,735 votes to Prebble's 65,441. An indication of the interest in the annual awards was the HKJC report of a record 380,418 votes from the public for the two awards, an increase of 22 per cent on the total in 2008. BETTING REVENUE IS THE BIGGEST BUSINESS IN HONG KONG With race cards twice a week from September to June and average crowds of 45,000, the HKJC receives in excess of $US10 billion in betting revenues and the totalized wagers staked on a single day’s meeting can quite often by more than an entire year’s betting on many European, American and Australian tracks. Nevertheless, the HKJC does not make a profit, not is it allowed to do so. Instead the Jockey Club is Hong Kong’s largest contributor to tax revenue and is the biggest single supporter of the city’s charitable organizations. The HKJC’s vision statement is to be a world leader in the provision of horse racing, sporting and betting entertainment, as well as Hong Kong’s premier charity and community benefactor. It achieves this by adherence to its Mission Statement: To provide total customer satisfaction through meeting the expectations of all club customers and stakeholders – the racing and betting public, lottery players; club members; charity and community organizations; Government; and, ultimately, the people of Hong Kong – and thereby be one of Hong Kong’s most respected organizations. HISTORY OF THE HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB THE Hong Kong Jockey Club, founded in 1884, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this season. Not only does it provide world class racing entertainment, the club is the city’s major non-Government community benefactor and now donates more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects. It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city’s growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations. Racing began in Hong Kong in 1846 when the first race meeting was held at Happy Valley, an erstwhile piece of malarial marshland and virtually the only flat land on Hong Kong Island in what is now known as Causeway Bay. Meetings initially occurred once a year and were usually timed to coincide with the Lunar New Year.
The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club was founded in 1884 in order to formalize the administration of the territory’s racing. In addition to organizing all racing activities, the HKJC took a commission on bets which were still placed through private clubs. The first permanent grandstands were erected at Happy Valley in 1931 with subsequent major developments in 1957, 1969 and 1995. Nowadays Happy Valley Racecourse nestles like a Roman amphitheatre among the surrounding hills, skyscrapers and general hullabaloo of Hong Kong. Its seven-storey stands are capable of housing some 55,000 punters. In 1959 charitable donations from the HKJC were regularly large enough to warrant the formation of the HKJC (Charities) Limited, which in 1993 was replaced by the HKJC Charities Trust. The 1970s saw a flurry of activity as the HKJC further regularized racing practices in Hong Kong, beginning with the switch from amateur to professional racing organization status in 1971. Two years later, the Government authorized the HKJC to establish off-course betting branches in order to combat illegal bookmaking. In 1974 the club opened the first six OCB branches and a telephone betting service commenced with 2,000 accounts. Night racing was introduced at Happy Valley in 1973. That funded the opening of Sha Tin Racecourse at Penfold Park in the New Territories in 1978.
With a trackside capacity of over 85,000, Sha Tin now provides the venue for several world-renowned races and International Day has grown to be one of the most popular and hotly contested feature race days in world horse racing. All gambling on horse racing in Hong Kong is administered by the HKJC. There are no legal bookmakers or fixed-odds bets. All wagers are transferred to a single pari-mutuel pool and dividends are calculated by the tote which determines the starting price in the usual fashion by first removing the house cut and then allocating the distribution of the balance to punters holding winning tickets. The bet types in Hong Kong include: Win, Place, Quinella, Quinella Place (any two of the first three horses), Tierce (first, second and third in correct order), Trio (first three in any order), Double Trio (two races), Triple Trio (three races which often jackpots into huge dividends), Double, Treble and Six-Up. THE HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB ARCHIEVE AND MUSEUM THE Hong Kong Jockey Club Archive and Museum (or Hong Kong Racing Museum) was set up in 1995 and opened on 18 October 1996. It is now located on the second floor of the Happy Valley grandstand. There are four galleries in the museum:
There is also a cinema and a souvenir shop in the museum. Moments in History – the HKJC 125th Anniversary Exhibition Opening hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 10am to 5pm. Night race meetings on Wednesdays 10am to 7:30pm. Closed on Mondays. Venue: The Hong Kong Racing Museum at Happy Valley Racecourse. PHOTOGRAPHS used in this story kindly provided by the HKJC.
For more information go to the websites of the HKJC or Hong Kong Tourism Board at: hkjc.com/English/ or discoverhongkong.com |
The other major bonus of visiting Hong Kong is the obvious tourist attractions of the region which arguably have something to delight every member of the family. Dad has the races – an appetiser at the magical Happy Valley on the Wednesday night leading up to the major meeting at Sha Tin on the Sunday afternoon. He can even hop a hydrofoil to Macau for a race meeting on the Saturday.
Club Chief Executive Officer, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, was pleased with the overall atmosphere and results of the season opener, describing it as very good start for the new season.
The Australian-bred galloper was trained by Tony Cruz, ridden by Felix Coetzee and owned by Mr and Mrs Arthur Antonio da Silva.
Moore then threw out a bold tip for the 2010 award: “I'm looking forward to next year and hopefully Collection being Horse of the Year.” 
To make way for the racecourse, the Hong Kong Government prohibited rice growing by villages in the surrounding area. The first race was run in December 1846. Over the years, horse racing became more and more popular among the Chinese residents.
Sha Tin hosted Hong Kong’s first International Race Meeting, the Hong Kong Invitational Cup, on 24 January 1988.