It started when they met up last night with the latest Brazilian jockey to ride in Hong Kong- Eurico Rosa Da Silva.
The conversation in Portuguese flowed and samba was in the air when Joao Moreira won the first race of the night- and his 98th winner of the season so far- with the carnival atmosphere continuing when Carnivale took to the stage. The Beer Garden has played host to a number of different musicians over the years, but none had the immediate impact of this very special group of entertainers led by the always entertaining Chris Polanco, far right in the photo below.
Sure, they’re all highly talented and professional musicians, but they also managed to capture the very essence of what makes a Happy Wednesday at Happy Valley Racecourse a Happy Wednesday- and added to this experience.
As the night progressed and races were run and won and the Wines In The Valley flowed and was being uncorked, onstage at the Beer Garden there was another party going on. Carnivale- our amigo Chris is fluent in Cantonese, Italian, French, English and Portuguese- were interacting with the audience who were interacting with the band and everyone around them.
There was dancing, everyone wanting selfies for memories of a great night, and with no one wanting the party to stop. As some of the jockeys mentioned after the races, “We saw what was going on while taking our horses down to the barriers and wish we could have taken a break from riding and joined the party onstage!”
Well, next Wednesday- next Happy Wednesday- we do it all over again on the final night of the Wines In The Valley promotion.
Carnivale, now a regular fixture of the Beer Garden will be there, those girls we met from Ipanema, Copenhagen and Shanghai have promised to be back, everyone’s invited to take up the 7-Second Challenge and have fun being a goofball.
At Adrenaline on the Second Floor of the racecourse, there’s the brilliant Jennifer Palor and her band, and a chance for all rookie racing fans to take on the professional tipsters in what’s called The Six Up For All.
What makes it a Happy Wednesday? All this and more- and, of course, you and your friends!
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