Chief Stipe

Racing: Fears Winston Peters probe will leave harness and dogs out in cold 14 Jun, 2018 5:00am 2 minutes to read Harness and greyhound codes could be left empty-handed when racing industry changes. Photo / Mark Mitchell Otago Daily Times By: Jonny Turner A letter from Racing Minister Winston Peters suggests the harness and greyhound codes could be left empty-handed when John Messara recommends racing industry changes. Messara is working on a wide-scale review of the industry which will be presented to Peters and the Department of Internal Affairs in the coming weeks. After it was announced Messara would be charged with conducting the review, the Otago Daily Times contacted Peters' office for information on the terms of reference for the report. No specific terms could be produced. The Taxpayers' Union this week revealed documents showing it, too, had asked for terms of reference from Peters' office. The union was sent a copy of a letter from Peters to Messara which outlines what is required for the review. In the letter, Peters specifically asks Messara to focus his review on the thoroughbred industry. "This letter is to formally seek your interest in undertaking a high-level assessment on my behalf of the racing industry in New Zealand, with a focus on how the current model supports the financial viability of the thoroughbred racing sector. "Your review should analyse the current situation, with particular emphasis on the thoroughbred racing code." Messara's review of the industry was previously thought to be an investigation of the whole racing sector that did not have a specific focus on thoroughbreds. Peters said Messara's review "will also assist the Government in determining if the current Racing Act 2003 and the proposed Racing Amendment Bill are fit for purpose". The thoroughbred racing focus of Messara's review could leave the harness racing and greyhound codes out in the cold if Messara recommends changes to racing legislation to benefit the galloping code. The revelation Peters wants the future prosperity of thoroughbred racing specifically examined comes as his close ties to the code are in the spotlight. Last month, the Herald reported that in September thoroughbred heavyweights Sir Patrick Hogan and wife Justine Lady Hogan took out a full-page advertisement in The Informant urging the racing industry to support NZ First because of its racing policies. The Electoral Commission said it was looking into the advertisement which was not declared in New Zealand First's election expenses return. In North & South magazine late last year, Hogan said he had helped NZ First leader Peters develop his racing policy.

I'm going to move this thread to the Vent. I'm hoping that sooner or later we can flush the Vent.

It's Instinctive to Compare Justify's Triple Crown to American Pharoah's but Both Share Connection to Greatness By TIM LAYDEN June 10, 2018 ELMONT, New York—History writes a chapter for each of them and the book of the Triple Crown becomes longer and richer. A tale for the horse from a century ago, the very first. Tales for the three in the 1930’s and the four in the forties, golden ages both. For Big Red most of all, and for Slew and Affirmed. And for the sleek bay colt who three years ago ran wire-to-wire in the setting sun and lifted a curse that had lingered for nearly four decades. The earth shook beneath Belmont Park that day, because the sport had waited so long and wanted it so much. They could not have known that the next would come so soon and so remarkably. They could not have known that there is always more that we can surrender to greatness when greatness arrives. And so: Again. This time the horse’s name is Justify. He is a tall, muscular chestnut-colored colt, the type of horse that painters paint and sculptors cast. There is room for him because on another Saturday evening, in the same long shadows that have framed so many champions before, Justify won the 150th Belmont Stakes and racing’s 13th Triple Crown. And because it was unlike any that came before it. He is just the second horse, and the first since Seattle Slew in 1977, to win the Triple Crown while undefeated. His perfect record has been written in a frenetic six-race career that began only on February 18—a breakneck 112 days from first race to Triple Crown—breaking every rule, even in an evolving sport, that governs the meticulous development of top horses. The architect of this furious, unlikely rush to immortality was trainer Bob Baffert, 65, who also trained American Pharoah to his Triple Crown three years ago and is the second trainer in history—after Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons in the 1930s – to win two Triple Crowns. “Unbelievable training job, one of the greatest of all-time” said Chad Brown, who trained Gronkowski to a runner-up finish at 25-1 odds. “Just adds to another incredible accomplishment to an incredible career.” Erick Rasco/Sports Illustrated Baffert saw it another way. He saw Justify as a gift to be honored with his best work. His voice cracked in the post-race press conference as he sought words to describe the last four months, and in a sense, all the years that came before them. “It’s a privilege to have a horse like this,” said Baffert. “I just wanted to see his name up there, with those greats, winning the Triple Crown.” Baffert is old enough to have accumulated scars that sting more on emotional days, whether good or bad. “I was thinking about my parents,” he said after the Belmont. They died a year apart less than a decade ago. And more: “I think about friends I’ve lost.” And finally: “To train a horse like this…He’s just a magnificent animal.” Justify was bought and guided to Baffert by a multi-pronged and complex group of owners in which Kentucky’s WinStar Farm has controlling ownership, with smaller pieces held by the mysterious China Horse Club, Boston-based hedge fund manager Sol Kumin and Louisville-based Starlight Racing (the latter two do not have rights to the considerable funds that will be generated later by Justify’s stallion career). His jockey is Mike Smith, a physical marvel at age 52, who climbed aboard Justify in his second race on March 11, and has not lost. Justify led for every step of the grueling 1 1/2 miles of the Belmont, a distance longer than he will run again (in what is likely to be a very brief further racing career). In this way, the race was a rerun of American Pharoah’s victory in 2015, a long gallop around the massive oval called Big Sandy, towing a field of lessers in his wake whose jockeys and trainers were left with an impossible conundrum. Pressure early and risk collapse, or hope that Justify’s schedule would catch up to him and make him vulnerable in the last quarter-mile. Four hours before the race, Baffert stood in the saddling paddock and said, “Anybody who goes with him is sacrificing themselves.” None of the others chased. Entering the turn, Smith asked for run from Justify and he opened two lengths on the fading Restoring Hope, who is also trained by Baffert (and was mysteriously close to the lead) and the approaching Vino Rosso. Piloting like a race car driver, Smith let off the gas and Justify relaxed. “He gets into that rhythm,” said Smith. “He takes a little breather and then he goes again. If I wanted him to relax I would just drop my hands and if I wanted to him to go I would just squeeze on him a little bit.” Smith squeezed at the head of the stretch and again the big horse opened two lengths. Vino Rosso drifted out and let Gronkowski through on the rail. Hofburg got into his best stride with 300 yards left. Smith waved his stick at Justify and then hit him, four times in the last three-sixteenths. A roar built, as it had with Pharoah. Smith breezed past the line, scrubbing on Justify’s mane, 1 3/4 lengths clear of Gronkowski. In a second-floor box above the line, Baffert pumped his fist and hugged his wife, Jill. As in Pharoah’s win, he was surrounded by his four grown children from his first marriage and 13-year-old Bode, his son with Jill. (And also with the Burger King mascot, for which Baffert was again paid an undisclosed sum that he said he will donate to charity; in 2015 it was $200,000.) Erick Rasco/Sports Illustrated Because Justify’s victory came so close on the heels of Pharoah’s, it’s instinctive to compare them. To compare the noise. To compare the buzz. To compare that which cannot be fairly compared. Pharoah’s victory was a communal bloodletting that ended 37 years of desperation between Triple Crowns. Justify’s was a celebration of a singular greatness. Different. But also the same. Or as Jill Baffert said, delightfully, just outside the winner’s circle, “It’s just as tasty.” They had all waited for the big colt to tire, to wear down, to show signs of fatigue from his furious, compressed rush toward history. It’s the only way he would lose, because at his best, he was too good for the other horses in his generation. Those signs would never materialize. Instead, he would make those closest to him marvel at his freakish durability. They watched and waited, because it is just three weeks from the Preakness to the Belmont, but the days pass like seconds being dragged through a mudfield. On the day after the May 19 Preakness, Jill Baffert sat on a bench outside Pimlico’s stakes barn. “It’s such a long three weeks,” she said, stretching her arms overhead and then breathing a deep sigh. Nine days passed, and 12 days remained until the Belmont Stakes. It was a Monday morning, Memorial Day in Louisville and Baffert pointed his rented Infiniti SUV east toward Lexington on Route 64. That morning he had watched Justify gallop a feisty 1 3/8 miles alone at Churchill Downs, where he returned after the Preakness and remained until the Wednesday before the Belmont. The big horse wanted more. “He was all cranked up afterward,” Baffert said. “He needs to do something.” Baffert decided to go ahead with plans to work Justify the next day. Then a man who suffered a heart attack six years ago bravely scarfed down a plate of fried chicken and gravy at a Cracker Barrel restaurant near the racetrack. Afterward Baffert swung his vehicle into the left lane and eased up to a speed just south of 80 miles an hour. His destination was Coolmore’s Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky, where he would visit American Pharoah, in part for an NBC feature story, but also because he likes to visit Pharoah, who connects him—and the sport—to a remarkable time. Horses like Pharoah and Justify transport the people around them. They transport the entire sport. HORSE RACING Remembering Chic Anderson’s Legendary Call of Secretariat’s Record Run at 1973 Belmont Stakes Baffert eagerly narrates his own tale. As the rolling Kentucky hills rushed past the windows of the SUV, he drifted back to Nogales, Arizona, where he was one of seven children born to Bill and Ellie Baffert. His dad raced horses on farm fields and Bob was often the jockey, a skinny, fearless adolescent. “One day, I was riding this horse and he went straight toward the barbed wire fence,” says Baffert. “I’m thinking, ‘This is really, really, really gonna hurt.’ But they always say give a horse his head, let him see the fence and he’ll turn away. I gave him his head and damn, he turned away. Oh, man.” Years later, he saw the wife of a good friend killed while exercising a quarter horse in Prescott, Arizona. It’s been a long ride, and now he stood on the precipice of a second Triple Crown, wealthy and famous. He shook his head. “It did not start out like this,” he said. “Not even close.” Simon Bruty for Sports Illustrated He met up with Pharoah in the early afternoon. At the end of his career, after the Breeders’ Cup Classic in October of 2015, American Pharoah weighed 1,175 pounds, now 1,391, softer but still shimmering. He breeds to more than 200 mares a year, which, easy jokes aside, is an exhausting schedule. But his demeanor has changed little. Baffert stroked his neck. “He loves humans,” he said. “Justify doesn’t love humans. He’ll give you about four or five seconds and that’s it.” They are athletically dissimilar, as well, the old champion and the new one. “Pharoah looked like a European horse,” said Baffert. “Beautiful, lean body, perfectly balanced. He could run all day. Justify has muscle on muscle. He’s like LeBron James. Pharoah was like Michael Jordan.” Justify was shipped by WinStar Farm to Baffert’s care late last fall. Minor injuries had prevented him from running the major two-year-old races. He started in a barn at Los Alamitos Race Track, south of Los Angeles, where Baffert boards many of his rookies upon arrival. In January he was moved to the big barn at Santa Anita and on Jan. 29, Baffert worked him five furlongs. “Owners wait for me to make the call and tell them they’ve got a good horse,” says Baffert. “I made some calls that day.” There were just 97 days to the Kentucky Derby and most contenders had already logged multiple races. Baffert decided to put the process in the microwave. He ran Justify in a seven-furlong race on Feb. 18 at Santa Anita, under 23-year-old jockey Drayden Van Dyke, who got Justify into an unnecessary speed duel. “I thought, ‘Sh--, he’s done,’’’ says Baffert. “And then at the quarter pole, he just explodes again. I was like, ‘Wow, this is a serious horse.’’’ Baffert replaced Van Dyke with Mike Smith, 52, who once housed Van Dyke in his Southern California home while Van Dyke adjusted to life in a new city. Baffert and Smith have shared a tumultuous—but not unusual—trainer-jockey relationship. It started in earnest 16 years ago when Baffert put Smith on a beastly two-year-old named Vindication, who went unbeaten and won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. In the winter, Baffert replaced Smith with Jerry Bailey and promised Smith, “I’ll make it up to you someday.” (Vindication was injured and never ran again.) They went on and off for a decade and a half, until Baffert, with no other options, put Smith on Arrogate in 2016 and together they went on a four-race tear. On Justify, Smith won an allowance, the Santa Anita Derby and then the Kentucky Derby, the first horse in 137 years to have won the Derby without having raced as a two-year-old. HORSE RACING Justify Emerges From the Fog at Preakness to Keep Triple Crown Pursuit Alive Just before the post-race press conference, Baffert said to Smith, “You remember Vindication?” Smith nodded. Baffert said, “We’re even, dude.” Smith says, “Bob put me on the bench for a while. But we kept talking. You always, always, always keep the lines of communication open,” says Smith. “Never burn a bridge.” Three years ago, Baffert asked at least three jockeys to ride American Pharoah before settling on Victor Espinoza. He watched Espinoza struggle with the spotlight and become distracted by money-making offers. “Victor actually did a great job with the horse,” says Baffert. “But he had a lot of things going on.” Baffert was determined to help Smith manage the pressure. On Preakness Day, Baffert put Smith on another of his talented three-year-olds, Ax Man, to win the Sir Barton Stakes. “I thought Mike was a little nervous,” Baffert said. “I wanted to give him a spin around there before the Preakness.” Rob Tringali for Sports Illustrated (Baffert also thought about entering Ax Man on a race on Belmont Day, but the problem was that Ax Man had upset Justify on van rides to and from Pimlico. Baffert didn’t want to risk similarly aggravating his high-strung superstar, so Ax Man was sent back to California to wait for a race at home. Smith got his winning warmup ride on Abel Tasman in the $750,00 Ogden Phipps. Smith expressed a desire to ride Baffert’s Hoppertunity in the 1 1/2-mile Brooklyn Invitational, but Baffert slammed that door. “I told Mike, `You’re getting old, you don’t need to ride two 1 1/2-mile races in the same day. I need you fresh.’” Baffert was only half-kidding.) On the day after Baffert’s trip to Lexington, 11 days out from the Belmont Stakes, Baffert watched from a balcony in front of a luxury suite above the finish line as Justify prepared for his half-mile work. Rain bled down from grey skies as Baffert ducked under an overhang. “I’m nervous,” he said. Justify’s Preakness had been courageous, but not dominant. Some handicappers called it a sign of fatigue. Baffert said Justify needed a tough effort, and compared it to American Pharoah’s Kentucky Derby, a grinding victory that laid the foundation for stellar performances in the Preakness and the Belmont. “The Preakness will make [Justify] better,” Baffert said before this workout. But he wanted validation. For the workout, he had flown in Martin Garcia, his top exercise rider. At 7:28 Garcia steered Justify onto the track, which was nearly empty. “Chilito,” said Garcia. It’s a word with some vulgar connotations, but in this case, Baffert and Garcia employed it to mean that Justify was calm and relaxed. Rob Tringali for Sports Illustrated Moments later Justify scored four furlongs, effortlessly, in less than 47 seconds. Baffert watched through binoculars. “Beautiful, beautiful,” said Baffert. “Awesome. Just awesome.” Pause: “Not nervous anymore.” As Baffert hustled out of the suite and into an elevator with David Hanley from WinStar, Garcia called on their team radio. “Chingon, patron,” said Garcia. It was the same term he had used with Pharoah after a similar workout three years earlier, also with some ugly connotations but in other ways, loosely translated: Strong. Tough. Badass. SPORTS ILLUSTRATED Remembering William Nack: A Passionate, Personable Master of His Craft Six days later Justify worked again at Churchill, this time more slowly, which Baffert said was intentional. He galloped twice at Belmont Park, aggressively. Leaving the track on Friday morning, exercise rider Humberto Gomez said to Baffert, “He loves the track. Loves it.” Justify’s rush through the Triple Crown had few hiccups. There was a heel bruise incurred in the mud in his second race, and accidentally made public when Baffert took him for a photo op on gravel outside his Churchill Downs barn. With any and every Triple Crown attempt, there can be a whiff (or in some cases, lungs full) of controversy. This year Justify’s owners elected not to enter Florida Derby winner and third-place Kentucky finisher Audible, who they also own, in the Belmont, a move that some racing pundits viewed as cheapening Justify’s accomplishment. A Belmont week story in The New York Times brought tension of a different sort, reporting that a bloodstock fund owned by George Soros, a frequent target of conservative media and voters, had been among the original buyers of Justify and retained a 15% share in his breeding rights, which reportedly will be sold for $75 million to Coolmore. Because this is America in 2018, this news gained traction in ugly corners of social media, wishing ill upon a horse who has no idea who owns him. (Those posting in this manner would perhaps be mollified if they understood that on Team Justify, there is significant support for Donald J. Trump.) But on the second Saturday in June of 2018, it was, as ever, about the horse. Early Saturday morning, Baffert visited Justify in his stall in Barn One on the Belmont backside. What was he like? It was mid-afternoon by now and Baffert was standing under a canopy of spring trees in the Belmont paddock, wearing a new, custom-made sports jacket from the appointment-only Beverly Hills shop, Bijan. He considered the question, raised both eyebrows and looked over the top of his ubiquitous sunglasses. “He’s ready,” said Baffert. “So ready.” Erick Rasco/Sports Illustrated In a post position draw four days before the Belmont at the Mets’ Citi Field in Queens, Justify had drawn the No. 1 (inside) post position, which is potentially disadvantageous, even in a race as long as the Belmont. Baffert said his instructions to Smith, starting from the inside post position, had been both obvious and stated. “Gotta go,” said Baffert. He has a healthy respect for the troubles that can befall a horse on the rail in the gate. “Step back, stumble, breaks sideways,” he said. “But Mike is good in there.” HORSE RACING SI 60 Q&A: William Nack on what 'Pure Heart' and Secretariat mean to him The starting gate slammed open at 6:50 and Justify broke alertly—“Maybe the best he’s ever broken for me,’’ said Smith—and also hard to his left. The gate is placed a distance from the inside rail, so there is room for a horse to break left. Smith nudged Justify into the lead approaching the first turn. It had been speculated that Noble Indy might push the pace. He is owned in part by Mike Repole, who might have been interested in softening up Justify for Vino Rosso, who he also owns, in part. But WinStar also owns part of Noble Indy, and might not want to soften up their potential Triple Crown winner. Whatever the case, nobody tried to pressure Justify. This was frustrating to some trainers with horses that needed a tired Justify in the homestretch, but lacked a horse with early speed. “There was no pace and nobody put any pressure on the horse,” said Bill Mott, trainer of third-place finisher Hofburg. “He kind of walked the dog around there. You can’t doubt [Justify] now. He’s probably a great horse. Everybody had an opportunity to take their shot. They let it go too easy.” Simon Bruty for Sports Illustrated It started less easy than Baffert and Smith might have liked, the first quarter-mile in 23.37 seconds. “A little quick,” said Baffert. Smith slowed the second quarter to 24.64 and the third to 25.10, resting. At this staging barn before the race, Baffert had said he wanted three-quarters of a mile in “One-thirteen or one-fourteen.” Justify passed three-quarters in 1:31.21. There was no chance of catching him at that pace. Gronkowski, who opened on the morning line at 12-1 and was ignored up to 25-1 in the final betting, broke horribly and fell 12 lengths behind on the first turn. (Baffert, meanwhile, was thrilled to have snagged a photo of minority owner Rob Gronkowski with Bode, in the pre-race paddock.) Under jockey Jose Ortiz, Gronkowski cut the second corner, slipped inside Vino Rosso and ever so briefly seemed to have a shot. That shot vanished when Smith asked Justify for more. His winning time was 2:28.18, a second and a half slower than Pharoah, but more than respectable. So as darkness fell on the Belmont Park, the Triple Crown near-misses of the '80s, the '90s and the 2000s receded further from memory, old wounds healed over, nearly forgotten. Three years ago the curse was ended and a sport felt relief. On Saturday it happened again and that same sport found adulation. This much we know: The feeling will never get old.

Back to the subject of the thread guys. Or I'll move the irrelevant posts to their own thread if you don't mind. The topic you are debating is an interesting one.

Keep the emails as they will contain the text of the private messages and only you can delete those. It is incorrect to say that you "can't delete private messages" as any administrator can do so. There is simple functionality to enable you to do so and aside from that as anyone with any understanding of IT knows you can delete anything from the database. BOAY will never delete personal messages. At the very least there is an implied privacy issue if we did. Personal messages between individuals are private and they should not be interfered with. They are not published publicly and therefore are not subject to the same rules as normal posts. In my long history of managing and administering these types of forums I can only recall twice changing a members avatar - once I loaded a caricature of Rumpole of the Bailey to the profile of the poster who posts as Rumpole. I never had any complaints and I imagine he quite liked it! The second occasion was on this site where I loaded a picture of some greek stature to a members profile at their request. It should also be pointed out that if you can change the avatar of a person without their permission you are not too many steps away from interfering with their personal messages. That won't happen on BOAY.

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Well aside from our constraining town planning laws I also thought Avondale could support a mini Hong Kong closed racing system.

Correct and they manage both tracks as support systems for each other. On another thread there is a third on its way.

Is there anything they haven’t thought of in Hong Kong (Avondale) racing’s brave new world? Kristen Manning | JUNE 11, 2018 Almost ready: the new Conghua centre “is an outstanding state-of-the-art training complex, with access to several beneficial facilities that we don’t normally have access to in Hong Kong,” says trainer Caspar Fownes. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s magnificent new Conghua Training Centre is due to open in mainland China in August. And it looks set to be a gamechanger, elevating the jurisdiction still further in world racing. Kristen Manning reports. For two decades, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been keen to expand. It has had the financial means, the motive of a flourishing local racing industry and the support of all those involved. What it did not have was space. When the Club was formed by a group of enthusiastic racing fans in November 1844, finding a suitable location for a racetrack was not so much of an issue, and Happy Valley was built a year later on what used to be swampland, the first meeting taking place in 1846. And racing in Hong Kong has not looked back, Sha Tin established on reclaimed land in 1978. It is now home to the Longines Hong Kong International Race Day each December, a day that racegoers Down Under keep a close eye on, with the likes of Sunline, Falvelon, Monopolize, Catalan Opening, Our Grey Invader, Kessem and Romanee Conti proving great representatives for Australasia. The competition has gotten tougher in recent years, with Australian and New Zealand runners finding it harder to get into the winner's circle, although several of the big day’s major stars have carried (AUS) and (NZ) suffixes; such as Silent Witness, Sacred Kingdom, Fairy King Prawn and Vengeance Of Rain. Initial aim realised December 2017 was dominated by locally trained horses, but the International Sprint winner Mr Stunning, a son of Exceed And Excel, was bred in Australia while Beauty Generation proved too strong for his rivals in the International Mile. The New Zealand-bred son of Road To Rock raced in Australia as Montaigne, winning at Randwick and finishing second to Tarzino in the G1 Rosehill Guineas. The success of the day is something that the Hong Kong Jockey Club’s Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges is extremely proud of, especially as it has realised its initial aim: to enhance the overall quality of Hong Kong racing and horses. It was 1998 that saw the first Hong Kong-trained horse, Johan Cruyff, make it into the international rankings (now the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings), a figure that increased to eight in 2008, to 21 by 2013 and 26 in 2016. Some eight percent of the world’s highest-rated horses call Hong Kong home and all 11 of Sha Tin’s major races feature in the world’s top 100 G1 races, according to the Longines/IFHA (International Federation of Horseracing Authorities) figures. But still there are limitations, with the 22 trainers currently working in Hong Kong permitted a maximum of 60 horses each and the current equine population capped at 1,230. The racing is competitive and exciting but there is a lengthy waiting list of owners, who wait four years for a permit, and the Club is keen to increase the numbers. Alluring possibility For two decades it wondered how. “We tried for years to source land but it was impossible,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said. And then along came the 2010 Asian Games at Guangzhou, two years after Sha Tin was used to house the horses competing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. From which an alluring possibility arose. There is plenty of space in China. And so an agreement was reached to purchase and develop “a major piece of land” in Conghua, 139 km north of Hong Kong. Known for its hot springs, Conghua is already a popular destination for local tourists, and its mayor, recognising that the presence of the Hong Kong Jockey Club is only going to increase awareness, has been supportive. Not that all has been smooth sailing, Engelbrecht-Bresges describing the development of the Conghua Training Centre as “probably the most demanding and significant project the Club has ever undertaken”. “We have overcome many challenges,” he said, “from establishing the first equine disease-free zone in China ... to obtaining special permission for cross-border transportation of horses, for our veterinarians to practise in China, to be able to import feed and medication and to establish the first comprehensive equine clinic on the mainland.” All the time keeping in mind that gambling is prohibited, the Club worked hard to establish good working links with officials while its overriding aim for a new training centre was to build something perfect for trainers, owners, riders and workers and, most of all, for the horses. “The horse comes first,” said John Ridley, Director Of Capital Racing Projects. “A happy horse gives his best.” CHECK OUT THIS TIME-LAPSE VIDEO OF THE TURF INSTALLATION And so the Hong Kong Jockey Club has worked to ensure that Conghua is a showpiece Thoroughbred establishment, one that consists of a 2000m turf track (a 400m home straight with a one percent rise and a 674m home bend with transitional curves) with the same grass profile as Sha Tin, as well as large and small all-weather tracks, two trotting rings and an 1100m turf uphill gallop sloped at a continuous 1.5 percent. Eight single story and one double story stable blocks for horses in training are designed to accommodate two trainers per divided stable, each with 34 stables and eight turn-out yards per wing, as well as two larger-than-usual isolated stallion stalls, inside and outside wash stalls and two covered walking machines. In total, there are 664 individual CCTV monitored stalls, serviced by an equine clinic, chilled salt-water spas, aqua treadmills, a water walker, a covered and heated 70m long swimming pool and 20 turf paddocks with shelter, feed bins and automatic water. Ideal environment for stallion prospects Horses will never come into contact with vehicles, with each having its own access ways, while deliveries will be made away from the stables so as not to cause any disruption. The provision of paddocks in a quiet area beyond the stables and tracks is a significant step for the Hong Kong Jockey Club with Engelbrecht-Bresges recognising that Sha Tin is, particularly for young horses, “an intense environment”. It will enable horses to be imported at a younger age as they can now be given time to develop and mature and to acclimatize and, along with the stallion boxes, it will also be easier to keep promising males entire. “Our prize money levels are attractive, but we need to keep adding value to the ownership experience,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said, noting that Hong Kong is the ideal environment to produce stallion prospects. “Our racing is of a high quality, it is substance-free and breeders know that a stallion who has raced in Hong Kong is genetically sound and not influenced by medication.” It was a timely discussion given that Archipenko (who sadly died recently), winner at Sha Tin of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in 2008 was represented by a big winner at this year’s International meeting, Time Warp impressively claiming the G1 Hong Kong International Cup. Meanwhile, winning in Hong Kong in recent years has done plenty to enhance the reputation of such stud prospects of Maurice, Lord Kanaloa and Highland Reel. Chosen as one of the first trainers to complement his Sha Tin stables with a base at Conghua is Caspar Fownes, who said that he “feels very privileged” to be part of the new establishment. “It is an outstanding state-of-the-art training complex, with access to several beneficial facilities that we don’t normally have access to in Hong Kong, such as spelling paddocks, uphill gallops and water walkers. I am sure that I will be able to use the set up to my advantage.” Conghua is designed, said John Ridley, with “further expansion in mind. We can continue to grow over time”. An 1100m turf uphill gallop sloped at a continuous 1.5 percent is a feature of the complex. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club Not only is there room for more stables and tracks, but space has been allotted for the equine clinic to expand with future plans for MRI, CT and scintigraphy equipment. Such a high standard is the veterinary care that Dr Christopher Riggs, Head Of Veterinary Clinical Services, joked: “If I were a horse, I know where I’d want to live!” A major challenge in the establishment of Conghua has been assuring that racehorses never come into contact with disease. The welfare of horses is paramount, firstly for their own wellbeing and secondly for the economy of both horse racing and Hong Kong. “We will not compromise on horse health,” Engelbrecht-Bresges said, noting that the Hong Kong Jockey Club pays HK$12 billion in taxes each year, around four to five percent of Hong Kong’s revenue. “And so the government do not want us to take any risks either.” Security at Conghua is exceptionally tight (comings and goings monitored not only by the Club but by government officials) and the training centre is in the midst of a 2000 square km horse-free zone. And there are no horses 1km each side of the freeway en route. “Even if horses have to be unloaded for any reason, there will be no contact with local horses,” said Dr Brian Stewart, Head Of Veterinary Regulation And Biosecurity Policy. Electrified fencing and buried concrete Mindful that diseases such as rabies are present in China, Dr Stewart added that the 2.3 metre high electrified fencing (supported by 600mm of buried concrete to prevent burrowing) surrounding Conghua is specially designed to make it impossible for a wild animal to penetrate the borders. “There is just so much at stake,” he said. while admitting that “the greatest risk is people”. Which is why strict protocols, overseen by quarantine officials from around the world, are in place while everyone involved is highly trained and experienced. “Hong Kong has safely imported and exported thousands of horses over the past 25 years,” Dr Stewart noted, “and we have successfully managed international racing events, temporarily importing up to 40 Thoroughbreds from many countries each year. Our disease surveillance and preventative health measures are second to none.” At present, every horse in Hong Kong has its temperature taken twice daily, with every horse displaying fever symptoms immediately tested. “This is the most effective and sensitive early detection system.” The owners’ lounge at Conghua will be impressively equipped. Photo: Hong Kong Jockey Club Around 450 people (including strappers, track riders and farriers) have been seconded from Hong Kong to work at Conghua while locals (over 1,500 applied when 100 stable-assistant positions were advertised and there were similar numbers for riders) will be trained at the Huangcun Sports Institute. Twenty five track riders, who also spend time at Sha Tin, have been in training since 2016. Another challenge for the Hong Kong Jockey Club has been convincing local owners that sending their horses across the border is a good idea. The typical Hong Kong owner is very involved with his or her horse, and the typical resident rarely has the need to spend much time travelling. Nor are they used to their horses spending much time in floats. And so the Club is producing a regular newsletter to keep owners up to date, one assurance coming in the form of international comparison. “To take a common English route, the journey is roughly the distance from York to Newmarket,” said KL Cheng, Head Of Dual Site Stable Operations And Owners’ Services. Dedicated travel grooms have been trained and each convoy of trucks will be accompanied by a security car, a veterinarian and a mechanic. The journey is monitored with live GPS tracking with CCTV vision (and recording) of each horse and regular reporting to control centres at Sha Tin and Conghua. Minimum border checks Several successful horse-movement trials have already been undertaken. In total 18 will have taken place, the trip taking just under five hours. There are only minimum border checks with a customs clearing station built at Conghua. Once everything is in full swing there will be return journeys twice a week; up one day, back the next. The floats are specially designed with the comfort of both grooms and horses paramount. “Each horse will have its own enclosed stall yet will be able to see, hear and smell the horses next to it,” Dr Riggs said. “The horses have space to allow them to lower their heads to the ground, which is important for their health. And we want the horses relaxed for the longer distance travel.” Relaxed is also the word to describe how the visiting owner will feel with a customized luxury coach on hand to ferry to Conghua those keen to see their horses, while an impressively equipped owners’ lounge is serviced by owners’ ambassadors. Monthly barrier trials will be conducted at Conghua, and owners with runners will be entitled to a free package, consisting of transport, overnight accommodation and meals at a five-star resort, with local sightseeing and golf expeditions arranged. And so it seems that there has not been a stone left unturned. It has undoubtedly been an enormous project with contributions for a wide variety of experts. Unfortunately there are ongoing issues with the Australian Department Of Agriculture And Water Resources, which has so far refused to grant approval, which led to no Australian representation at the 2017 meeting. Australian horses can go, it is just hard for them to return (a six-month New Zealand stopover required). In the meantime, the HKJC looks forward to the Conghua opening in August, after which some HK$1.5 billion will be spent on renovating Sha Tin. There is no resting on laurels in Hong Kong. “We strive for excellence in everything we do,” Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said.