We have discussed in this space previously the poor deal that Happy Valley has had over the past decade and even a reasonably successful Sunday meeting like the one last weekend only begs the question of how much better it could be used.
It was reasonably successful in a bottom line way, with total turnover up by only HK$22 million-odd, but that may have been better but for the flat tyre that eWin suffered in the first half of the programme.
Explanation have we none, and there was a school of thought among officials that most punters would only have been inconvenienced by eWin's malfunction only insofar as having to switch from computer to telephone, but it must have cost the club something. A turnover rise of only a few per cent in the current climate is almost a loss.
Maybe it wasn't only eWin.
Poor old Happy Valley was once the centre of the racing universe, where the Derby and Group One Cups were run - actually it was the entire universe. Then along came Sha Tin and, point granted, it is a more suitable racetrack so all the biggest features went there.
But the past decade has seen Happy Valley steadily denuded of even the few serious handicap features that were left and it was covering itself with barely a fig leaf on Sunday. In fact, more than a few comments were passed that the Sunday date at the Valley had been wasted on what looked like a mid-week night meeting stretched to 10 races.