ANOTHER LO BLOW?
Yes, the Steven Lo saga where the Hong Kong entrepreneur was sentenced over the weekend in Macau to over five years for bribery and money laundering is making front page news in the Chinese newspapers and, of course, focus on where he stands with the HKJC as owner of Horse Of The Year Military Attack.
But, whoah, Lo is “only” the co-owner of his horses with the other half belonging to wife Canny Leung- gorgeous, no bimbo and a tough Chinese cookie. Don’t let the fragile looks and great sense of style fool you.
So, until his various Appeals are heard- and these can take years with NO CHANCE of the businessman ever going to jail as there is no extradition treaty between Macau and Hong Kong- Steven Lo is like that very old song by Lesley Gore- couldn’t they have changed her surname?- about how, It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to and able to do as he pleases.
The slight problem is, S-Lo showing up at the races- the DIIIIIUUUUS will be deafening- AND, if one of his horses wins- Military Attack, for instance- and the “former owner” decides to be on the winner’s podium with HKJC officials.
Get the picture? It’s not pretty and somewhat embarrassing to all concerned.
Please Mr God, let commonsense prevail and let’s not have any “sharing” of the Horse Of The Year Award and S-Lo insisting on being in the photograph.
Sure, Steven, this is your prerogative, but, for once, puhleeeeese, stop while you’re ahead and let the horse, trainer John Moore and the new “full owner” bask in the glory of a well-earned win with HKJC officials.
————————————————
WHERE IS SPEEDY GONZALES?
We must applaud Photographer Kenneth Chan for his always brilliant ways of capturing the excitement of a race and which makes the stories in the racing pages come alive.
The man is the Annie Leibowitz of horse racing and we’d love to show his work but, if we did, we’d get another letter about “copyright infringement” from the newspaper’s legal eagles- a newspaper with a rapidly dwindling subscriber base for whom some of us actually wrote.
While Kenneth Chan’s work remains of a consistent Group 1 quality, we were dumbfounded to see the usual group of racing photographers huddled together- as they have done for decades- in that one area at Shatin racecourse, chewing on their fried chicken wings, and lazily snapping away like lemmings-all from the same angle- of horses winning and which is probably why, even the HKJC website has such pedestrian photographs- and uploaded almost three hours after the last race has been run.
What happened to the immediacy of Twitter and Instagram and what’s the point of all those HKJC twitter accounts?
After all, as a picture is worth a thousand words, who needs 140 words without any humor and no zap?
As we keep saying, the HKJC does so many things very well, but, boyohboy, when they get the very basics of marketing and the promotion of its product so wrong, we have to wonder what all those cooks at 1 Sports Road are cooking up- or if they even care?
————————————————
OH NO, IT’S ANOTHER “OH NOOOOOO” HKJC BROADCAST!
Still with the HKJC, we understand that the person in charge of their “programing” believes that “no one” watches its English broadcasts. And the old dear is correct- in Hong Kong.
What happens, however, when commingling finally happens?
What about the HKJC product being seen an innovative GLOBAL brand?
If here is someone in charge of broadcasting with this anal type of thinking, it begs the question, why even bother producing the amateurish crap we’re subjected to with embarrassing and wacky panels- Maree Prebble as an expert on a recent simulcast???- waffles galore with pancakes and syrup?
Now, let’s call this person “Oh Noooo” and understand that the words “experience” and “innovative” are two very different words and, from everything we know- and see- in English AND Chinese- here is the HKJC’s answer to Robert Chua, below, the television producer relevant to HKTVB broadcasting in the Seventies.
Today, dear Robert writes tedious letters to the editor about broadcasting.
Frankly, hearing about “Oh Nooooo’s” aggressive, defensive, even racist tantrum at a meeting yesterday about ways to improve the quality of its programing where she is said to have flipped out and gone into a Screaming Banshee overdrive while those around her suffered from George Costanza- type shrinkage which makes us wonder, “Who’s minding the store?”
————————————————
FAST TRACK’S TIPS FOR TONIGHT AT HAPPY VALLEY.
THE FAST TRACKER HOPES TO CARRY ON FROM WHERE HE LEFT ON SUNDAY.
Just in case no one has noticed, Dougie Whyte just keeps chipping away and though the odds of him winning this year’s Jockey Premiership look remote- does he really care?- The Champ is having some sort of renaissance over the past few meetings including a treble on Sunday and taking out the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup aboard Gold Fun.
Tonight, Whyte has another good book of rides including riding the Tony Cruz-trained Key Witness a few pounds over and replacing Matthew Chadwick, who, er, rode it at its last start like a manic Bus Uncle.
Key Witness carrying those famous colors carried by the great Silent Witness might have disappointed at its last start in Shatin, but has won over course and distance for Mirco Demuro with a great last to first win and I reckon this and Exciting Dream- hmmmm- are the best in a book of rides that can all place.
R1 BOLERO/RAY OF GOLD/GRACYTOM
R2 ROBUST MOMENTUM RISING POWER/KIDS AND WINS/STEP HIGH
R3 SICHUAN VIGOR/ROMAN WIN
R4 WINNING BOY/HAPPY HOMING/PERI PERI SAFFRON
R5 DARK SECRET/GOLDEN SCALPEL/CLASSY VICTOR BLUES
It’s tough to follow anything from the Darth Ferraris stable- worse is following my old mate, the now dickless Autumn Gold from the Sean Woods yard- but with Karis Teetan choosing to ride Dark Secret, I’ll put it on top but with not the greatest confidence.
I’d love to get off that well-worn Backbench Blues, but running over 1800 and with Tye Angland aboard, it just might run into the top three like Forrest Gump.
R6 KEY WITNESS/COUR VALANT/TONY BOY
If you saw Bus Uncle Chadwick’s ride on it at its last start, you’d know why owner Archie Da Silva has asked that he be replaced by Dougie Whyte. It should win with only Cour Valant to beat.
R7 FLYING CHAPPERAL/JAZZY FEELING/LUCKY BONUS
Ben So, below, on a 40 to 1 pop like High Chapperal, I’d stick it into everything as this kid is like some gun for fire by many stables when a well-priced runner is a goer- and here, where it looks like a race for non-winners.
R8 GOLDEN HARVEST/BOBO DRAGON/EXCITING DREAM
BEST BET – R6 KEY WITNESS (12)
NEXT BEST – R8 EXCITING DREAM (7)
LONGSHOT – R7 HIGH CHAPPERAL
SARIKA’S SIXUP
R3: 1 R4: 2-3-7-10-12 R5: 7 R6: 12 R7: 1-3-4-8-10-11 R8: 3-6-7
————————
SELECTIONS FROM THE BIG APPLE (@SW064351)
BEST BET Race 7, No. 3 Jazzy Feeling Runs behind Enthusiasm have been encouraging. Rate highly.
SECOND BEST Race 8, No. 7 Exciting Dream Returning from setback after an outstanding win here. Trial last week was solid.
LONGSHOT Race 6, No. 6 Step Faster Forgive last run where the wide gate didn’t help. An improved showing wouldn’t surprise.
LAY Race 2, No. 9 Robust Momentum Untried over this course and has yet to win in this grade. Hard to have.
QUADDIE 3,5,7,10 / 5,7,12 / 1,3,7 / 3,7,9. $50 for 46.29%.
————————————-
Tonight’s Selections for Happy Valley from Third Dividend
HAPPY VALLEY (HKG) Wed, 19/3/14 #HValley Night Races @HKJC_Racing Turf (“C” Course-Worked Back) Weather: Cloudy. Humid and foggy in the morning and at night. Warm with sunny periods during the day. The maximum temperature will be around 26 degrees. Light to moderate southeasterly winds. Source: http://www.hko.gov.hk/contente.htm
Race 1: FENWICK HCP CL5 1 – Ray of Gold (5)* 2 – Flying Keeper (9) 3 – Gracytom (11) 4 – Bolero (6)
Race 2: GLOUCESTER HCP CL4 1 – Step High (3) 2 – Uwillbeglorious (4) 3 – Rising Power (10) 4 – Better Announce (1)
Race 3: JAFFE HCP CL3 1 – Sichuan Vigor (1) 2 – Roman Win (2) 3 – Sparkling Win (3) 4 – Supreme Essence (4)
Race 4: THE EWO CHALLENGE TROPHY HCP CL4 1 – Winning Boy (7) 2 – Lovely Boy (1) 3 – Peri Peri Saffron (2) 4 – Fire Starter (4)
Race 5 (Q1): LOCKHART HCP CL4 1 – Golden Scalpel (5) 2 – Classy Victor (7) 3 – Expectator (8) 4 – Smart Union (9)
Race 6 (Q2): LUARD HCP CL3 1 – Cour Valant (7) 2 – Key Witness (12) 3 – Tonyboy (5) 4 – Step Faster (6)
Race 7 (Q3): THE POLICE CUP HCP CL3 1 – First Sight Love (1) 2 – Grand Elite (8) 3 – Jazzy Feeling (3) 4 – Smart Ball (5)
Race 8 (Q4): O’BRIEN HCP CL2 1 – Exciting Dream (7) 2 – Golden Harvest (3) 3 – My Name Is Bond (9) 4 – Bobo Dragon (6)
Best Bet Race 4: Winning Boy (7)
Next Best Race 8: Exciting Dream (7)
Value Bet Race 1: Ray of Gold (5) – Currently, $5.90/$2.00
Long Shot Race 7: Smart Ball (5) – Currently, $13.00/$3.00
Quaddie ($100 get you 39%) 5.7.8.9 5.6.7.12 1.3.5.8 3.6.7.9
Six Up 1.2 7 5.7.8.9 7.12 1.3.8 3.7
Comments