Excellent Season For Hong Kong Racing Concludes At the close of yesterday´s final race meeting of the 2005/06 season, Mr Lawrence T Wong, the Club´s Chief Executive, reflected on a very successful campaign when Hong Kong horses scored a record five Group One successes against international opposition. Horse of the Year Bullish Luck established himself as undoubtedly the best miler within the Asian Racing Federation with comprehensive successes in both the Champions Mile and the Yasuda Kinen in Tokyo. Mr Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, Executive Director of Racing, meanwhile noted Silent Witness´ confirmation as officially the world´s leading sprinter (and Hong Kong´s Champion Sprinter) for a third year thanks to a victory of the highest quality in the Sprinters´ Stakes in Japan. Vengeance Of Rain became the first Asian winner of the World Racing Championship by adding our most valuable race, the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Cup, to victory in the Audemars Piguet QEII Cup in April 2005. And Natural Blitz led home an amazing home-trained first five in the Cathay Pacific Hong Kong Sprint to emphasise the strength of our sprinting ranks. John Size was crowned Champion Trainer for the fourth time in his five years based at Sha Tin, while Champion Jockey for the sixth consecutive season, Douglas Whyte received his trophy after racing. Whyte rode 114 winners during the campaign, a Hong Kong record. Alex Lai Hoi-wing earned a second Champion Apprentice title, partnering the winners of 23 races. The Champion Awards were also settled as Armada, after a rise of 58 points in official ratings, collected the title for the Most Improved Horse in the final race of the season. The Club´s betting turnover for the season amounted to HK60,050 million, a 4.2 per cent fall against the previous season´s tally, while total attendance was 1,888,000, a 2.3 per cent decrease on last year. Mr Wong pointed out that the continuing slide in turnover would reduce the government´s betting duty from racing to HK$7,943 million, down by HK$409 million, or 4.9 per cent. He added: 'We hope the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2006 will be approved by the Legislative Council at the forthcoming resumption of second and third reading. It would present a great opportunity to arrest this declining trend and enable the Club to compete more effectively with illegal and offshore bookmakers.
