HK threatens to quit series over Aussie move
Hong Kong's participation in the Global Sprint Challenge (GSC) will be short-lived if changes to the series announced in the Australian media yesterday take place.
Last October, the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint joined as the seventh and final leg of the series, but on the eve of the fifth event of the 2006 series - the Centaur Stakes in Japan tomorrow - a report in Melbourne's Herald Sun has upset Hong Kong officials.
The newspaper reported as a fait accompli that Melbourne's foremost sprint, the A$1 million Newmarket Handicap (1,200m), had been added to the GSC to fill the gap left when the Moonee Valley Racing Club withdrew its Australia Stakes from the series.
But Hong Kong Jockey Club executive director of racing Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges angrily said the change 'is just not happening or we will drop out of the series'.
'There was some discussion about the Newmarket Handicap joining the series but we are totally against it for two reasons,' he said. 'For one thing, it is a handicap race and that is against the spirit of the series, which is made up of only set-weight races. Secondly, we are against any programming changes which will cause clashes between feature sprints in any of the host jurisdictions and the Newmarket always clashes with our big domestic sprint races.'
He said Hong Kong would withdraw from the GSC if other organisers persisted with the inclusion of the Newmarket Handicap.
The 2006 series leader, Australia's Takeover Target, winner of the Newmarket as well as an Australian GSC leg, the Lightning Stakes, is the likely favourite for the Centaur tomorrow despite drawing barrier 11.
The flow of bets into Hong Kong pools from Macau wagering outlets will continue into the new season after a fresh arrangement was signed by the parties yesterday.
There will, however, be no rebates offered for the one-way betting from Macau into win, place, quinella and quinella place pools, turnover from which has fallen well short of some estimates.
