A near-perfect day that makes it hard for future improvement
As the crowds gasped at the colour and artistry of a lavish pyrotechnics display that marked the closure of Hong Kong's international raceday for 2003, champion Australian jockey Damien Oliver gave voice to a thought that was in the minds of so many - how can the Jockey Club improve on this?
The day was virtually blemish free, a wonderful presentation of top-class, international racing, featuring 35 high-class visiting horses from 12 different countries, and with the entire production executed with panache on a bright and warm autumn afternoon.
Hong Kong pride was high, with two wins out of the four international races to Silent Witness (HK Sprint) and stablemate Lucky Owners (HK Mile). This means local owners and trainers have now won five of the last eight internationals.
Silent Witness graduated from being an unbeaten Hong Kong galloper to an acclaimed world star. It wasn't just the parochial Hong Kong racing folk who were calling him the world's best sprinter - the overseas visitors did it for us.
And it was a huge pay day for connections of both Hong Kong winners, remembering the Jockey Club's commitment to pay a 50 per cent prizemoney premium to any local galloper who successfully represents the HKSAR in these races.
'There were any number of positives from the day and congratulations to the connections of all the Hong Kong horses who won or were placed in today's international races,' said the Jockey Club's executive director of racing, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.
'In recent years, the club has actively been encouraging owners to go out and buy better horses and it's wonderful to see these programmes bearing fruit.'
Ciaran Kennelly, the Jockey Club's head of handicapping and international race planning, said the handicappers of the world would meet next week to review the equine performances from the meeting, but he predicted Silent Witness would end up with an international rating of 120. 'At that figure, he'll be recognised as the best sprinter in the world, and only a fraction behind where Fairy King Prawn was at his best,' Kennelly said.
The attendance at the meeting was 65,411 (including 5,480 at the simulcast venue at Happy Valley) - up 5.4 per cent on last year's figure of 62,030.
The one negative was betting turnover. It's OK to say that international day is all about showcasing the best of Hong Kong racing, but it would be nice to see all that promotion reflected in the betting handle, which it definitely was not.
In 2002, the club bet on nine races on international day and held $1.078 billion. This year, on a sparkling 10-race card, the club held $967.7 million - a drop in aggregate turnover of 10.7 per cent but a very disappointing per-race fall of 19.2 per cent.
Historically, the international races are the lowest turnover events of the card because local punters are not familiar with the form of the visitors. But this year, coinciding with the best-ever promotion and the provision of leading-edge information through the club's internet site, the sharp drop could not have been easily anticipated.
But back to the original question - how can the club improve on what everyone thinks is near perfection?
'Next year, we will have the new parade ring opened and that will be a feature in itself,' said Engelbrecht-Bresges. 'But for what we can do to improve even further in 2005, at this stage, I'm not really sure.'
