All kinds of stuff about horse racing, yes, but also other stuff that we find interesting and which maybe you will, too.
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But to where exactly is Hong Kong heading, Cinderella?
Some might have got to the narrative, but Hong Kong was never all about horse racing. Horse racing was all about Hong Kong. As long as Hong Kong flourished and was flushed with cash, everyone who was part of Hong Kong had a great ride on the Rolls Royce of gravy trains.
This was a gravy train carrying six star hotels, gold coated escort clubs with VIP suites and some of the most beautiful women from all parts of Eastern Europe for company.
There were fabulous restaurants, career and business opportunities for everyone from everywhere in the world with the gift of the gab and the confidence in having a dream to sell.
There was a throbbing outré Club scene led by Canton disco.
Having lunch with Andrew Bull this week, above with the great Nile Rogers, who saw the waiting Club market, we were sad, confused and bewitched, bothered and bewildered to see what has become a locked down city with locked down minds and because of the government’s own paranoia because of over two years of glaring mistakes, scared to death today to even pass gas.
This hardly augurs well for a shiny future.
In the Hong Kong that Andrew and I know, there were visiting celebs and neo celebs, a conga line of colourful characters who made the city the adult playground that it was and a place in time that gave many the freedom to lead a lifestyle very few today could comprehend. One could see the highway to the future.
After all, less than an hour away was fabulous Macau.
With its casinos, fledgling horse racing club with so much potential, more restaurants, more bars and escort clubs, and, looking back, a decadence that weirdly enough had some class to it- except perhaps for the “auction house” that was Darling- Macau could have been the Monte Carlo of Asia.
To make it the new Las Vegas and another Monte Carlo was the dream of casino magnate Stanley Ho. This powerful and charismatic gentleman dreamt big. He was helluva influential and an untouchable.
It was against this ritzy glitzy backdrop of two cities somewhat intertwined was there horse racing twice a week in Hong Kong at two iconic racecourses, one at Happy Valley and the other at Shatin.
There was incredible prestige in being a Member of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club when Hong Kong was a colony and which continued after the Handover to China in 1997.
Racing fans saw legends of the turf like Lester Piggott.
There was Eddery, Fallon, Carson, Swinburn, Macanese Tony Cruz, Bill Hartack, Michael Kinane, Dettori- Gianfranco and son Frankie - Yves Saint Martin and his brilliant and enigmatic son Eric and anybody in racing who was someone.
There was Gerald Mosse, Darren Beadman, Brent Thomson, Johnny Marshall, Bartie Leisher, the emergence of Douglas Whyte, the sudden arrival of the Brazilian magic man, and the determination of the Zac Attack to be one of the best in the world- and which he most likely is today.
There were also the trainers like the lasting legacy of the genius that was Ivan Allan.
There was the power of the recently departed Brian Kan. There was Cheng Tai-chee, Wong Tang-Ping, a newcomer named John Size and the great George Moore with sons Gary and John.
It really was the best of times, and for those of us who were part of this world offering such a buffet of choices, nothing can compare with everything we had.
We REALLY were living the dream in Never Never Land. There was nothing to fear except for fear itself. We were flying without a safety net.
This is why it’s so difficult for those who enjoyed this amazing lifestyle to settle for what we now see as going nowhere and picking up the crumbs with trembling hands.
It’s even more difficult to see what Hong Kong has become in three short years- a second class city with a future that’s hazy at best and lacking the world class pulling power it once had.
It’s why there’s now a regular midnight train outta here to Georgia and to points anywhere else.
Flights are full, there’s a rush to leave and with less and less people wishing to be here, let alone live here.
Those who can- and no matter how hard it is to say goodbye to one’s home- it has to be done.
Maybe it’s only an intermission. Let’s hope so. After all, no one ever really leaves Hong Kong. Much of it stays with you- forever.
We, Hong Kong Belongers, grew up here being used to being seen as winners. Nothing less. We were swinging because we were winning. There was nothing better than sliding to home base.
We need this city to rise to the occasion, take on all challenges, not be afraid of change, or its shadow, and get its entrepreneurial mojo back- IF Hong Kong’s entrepreneurs bother returning. They’re needed to look at what’s still here and seeing how to make it better and new again. There are enough gulping down too many stupid pills.
Or maybe- and this could be stretching it- the real Big Picture is how Macau, with its infrastructure in place, and a Hong Kong at a rebuilding stage, can come together and bring something new to themselves and the world.
It’s a bit like creating the first Portuguese Char Siu Bao Egg Tart.
Tasty?
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Thank you, Andrew Mallyon for the very measured and mature tweet above that shines a bright light on a very sad incident.
It is no doubt an accident that has impacted the lives of those involved- and their families and friends and everyone else who have seen keyboard warriors drag horse racing- and the image of horse racing-into the gutter over and over again. Their usual battle cries have been heard for decades. Some use their own names and try to work the best they can for self promotion and the wars they have been waging for themselves and their causes for years.
Others must live pathetic little lives with nothing much happening for them.
Social media and platforms like Twitter give these people a “voice”. Or so they think.
Online laws are changing. It’s no longer a free-for-all and some online gangstas paradise without legal repercussions.
These repercussions WILL happen, sooner rather than later...
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The Tao Of Zac
He makes it look so easy. And by consistently swinging while winning, he helps some of us to look at what we’re doing and how we can better ourselves.
Last night at Happy Valley, Zac Purton rode 3-and-a-half winners. The half win was a dead heat result.
His three winners? Brilliant, especially when he took the race won by HK Dragon by the scruff of its neck after seeing the piddle paddling going on in front of him and made a winning move.
For the rest of us who are not in horse racing and not jockeys, it’s about winning moves- and making them count.
It’s not about walking on eggshells and fearing the worst when taking chances.
What’s worse is not making any moves and sitting there expecting things to magically happen.
They don’t and they won’t.
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Rare old photograph of very angry punter or terrible tipster.
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Living la Vida Loca...
Ricky Martin lookalike and excellent brawny horse trainer Simon Miller in WA, above, has two mighty fine young gallopers well worth continuing to follow- Amelia’s Jewel, below, winning last Saturday and How’s The Serenity with very good young apprentice Holly Watson aboard.
Both won at Ascot last weekend in true La Vida Loca manner and look like going places.
In Hong Kong, Caspar Fownes did everything possible to contain his giddy excitement when asked about the brilliant win of Galaxy Witness at Shatin on Sunday.
For those who know Cas, it was obvious that he was itching to scream out something like “Well, bite my ass!” but controlled himself. Joao Moreira’s very definite fist pump after the winning post pretty much said it all...And also when he and the recently vaxxed Cas held hands after the race and blew kisses to one other...Nice.
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Enter The L’il Guv’nor
If he hasn’t already been dubbed The Little Guv’nor, he should be. Zac Lloyd is very quickly going places and seems in a hurry to get there.
At the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, the younger son of the Guv’nor-Jeff Lloyd’s- Apprentice Jaden being the eldest- rode four winners- and came close to riding a quintet when he came second in the last race of the day.
The careers of the two little guv’nors are not exactly standing still. They started very young and with the right mentors around them and are today making giant strides.
Their careers are managed by The Guv’nor himself whose retirement plans are no doubt in the very capable hands of wife Nicola.
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The Eyes Wide Shut Award
Nicole Kidman being exempted from having to adhere to Hong Kong’s compulsory Covid-19 quarantine laws to enter the city and begin work on a television called “Expats”.
Remember that? Remember all the hullabaloo this caused after the Actress and Producer of the series jetted in from Australia and was then seen around town shopping the next day?
Seems like it was only yesterday. It was actually August 12, 2021. And today? Nada- except Miss Kidman walking out of the shoot after a disagreement with the director and promising she would be back to complete filming.
Will she be back? Not if she’s been following the news and seeing just how much Hong Kong has changed in less than a year and become the horror show that’s “Carrie Does Ching Yi and Penny Bay”.
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If only...The World Of The Influencer?
One man’s journey into Michelin Star Nirvana is launched to rave reviews.
Produced, directed and hosted by Zachary Purton, viewers are asked to bathe in the rich caviar creaminess of it all.
Via Zoom, our host interviews such culinary luminaries like Chef Wolfgang Puck whom he addresses as “Pucky” and engages in a long conversation with him on the origins of his name and whether he was raised by wolves.
Nigella Lawson pops out and up and out of the show and shows off her good bits. There’s quite a bit to see.
The interview is short circuited when The Influencer blurts out, “You’re a big girl, aren’t you? Hahahaha! Hips don’t lie! Hahahaha.” This clip becomes an #instahit.
In the following episode Mark Zuckerberg is a guest and is asked if “Zuck” has anything to do with a penchant for zucchini. Zuck doesn’t get the wordplay. No one does...
More to follow...
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