While still absorbing the 161 run fest in the first cricket Test match by 22 year old Yashasvi Jaiwasal, came news of the 13 year old cricketer also from the subcontinent -Vaibhav Suryavanshi- and the multi million dollar investment in the prodigy.
These newcomers and million dollar babies to nearly every sport are more than just food for thought or or rolling in the deep on golden pond. They signal a changing of the guard around the world in sports and sports marketing, and with it, a post Covid customer group who cannot be defined and with no one really knowing what might attract them.
For example, being a Hong Kong Belonger, I see plenty of guesswork and recycling of what’s come before because, well, it appears that everything that can be done has been done, so it’s back to opening another restaurant or having another drone show or light show for the Selfie People or giving out vouchers etc, none of which has anything sustainable.
Is it about being sheep and lemmings and embracing AI, which is still very much something that is unknown, and going over the precipice with it?
Gawd bless the creative intelligence of Gary Larson who said so much with his cartoons about the stupidity of earthlings way back in the Eighties and is more relevant than ever today.
Next year, Coldplay is finally returning to Hong Kong after almost twenty years
Having worked with the band when with EMI Music and knowing something about Coldplay record sales when consumers actually paid for music, one wonders how the band is going to sell out three shows at the new Kai Tak Stadium despite all tickets having been “sold out”.
While also thinking about supply and demand, how the retail sector will survive, thoughts somehow turned to the HKJC and its annual HKIR week.
Must have been the eye catching ad.
This week of horse racing action includes the Hong Kong Jockeys Challenge at Happy Valley on the Wednesday night before the big guns of horse racing are rolled out and start firing at the International Races at Shatin on Sunday December 8.
Sometimes, my girlfriend says I think too much and to just let it go and maybe take up pottery in the nude.
Maybe, but with a changing of the guard marching through mind fields, one looks at every major event hosted in the city these days and does a personal good joss ceremony dance while wondering what the future holds for this one time colony that had it all.
No matter what rosy pictures might have tried to be painted, there have been some Lionel Messi size cockups in recent months and years in the promotion of Hong Kong as an international tourist destination which has made overseas interest in the city somewhat flat and flaccid.
As for HKIR week, this is for the usual suspects in the international horse racing community, who might not exactly be the enigmatic “Gen Z”, but that 55-70 year old age group, largely from Australia and Europe.
Attending HKIR Week is something they’ve planned for almost a year.
It’s a Bucket List event for those in the world of horse racing and which can be repeated umpteen times.
There might be questions about how, apart from the horse racing, what type of entertainment the HKJC has planned, but does this global pastime really want change?
Or when there are tweaks here and there, are these some additions to the wagering landscape, or being fed more and more pop-up races with slots and slot holders and almost obscene increases in prize money?
Does this make business sense?
Another thought bubble is how many really care about having some unknown singer warbling away or someone DJing- especially an international audience who are at Shatin afternoon to watch the races, mingle, network, make a sale, have a flutter and, hopefully, win?
Would newbies, especially those from China care- those who might want to understand the fundamentals of horse racing before deciding to invest and partake in the pastime?
Having said this, always needed is some entertainment fare for the more fun driven Wednesday night at the Beer Garden at Happy Valley that happens in between the designated Jockeys Challenge races and which can’t be more hotel lounge type of musical Jello Pops.
During what was known by some as The Nader Years, this entertainment was usually a fireworks display synced to a Katy Perry track and a post race party at the venue Adrenaline, which was recently changed and christened- drum roll, please- The Beat.
And the beat goes on…
These days, meanwhile, it’s Hong Kong, China, and not Hong Kong as a standalone international city with that once unique vibe to be found in in Lan Kwai Fong, Soho, a throbbing Wanchai area with the Escape joint, and Caine Road for those fabulous traditional Chinese foot reflexology massages.
Sure, some of these places are still there- but different- though there is still the famous Hainan Chicken Rice at the Grand Cafe of the Grand Hyatt Hotel, good Italian cuisine at Niccolini’s, plenty of restaurants to discover in the Sai Kung area and excellent hole in the wall Thai eateries way down Wyndham Street.
There are then possible day trips for a long lunch at outlying islands like Lamma and Lantau or taking in the excellent Macanese cuisine in Macau.
The horse racing will, of course, be world class with the usual marquee value names being the main attractions- Ryan Moore, James McDonald and champion galloper Romantic Warrior, Blake Shinn, Zac Purton and Ka Ying Rising, Yutaka Take, Damian Lane, Yuga Kawada, William Buick etc.
As someone who has lived here for over five decades and knows the lay of the land, other than the Group 1 races, the undercard is often interesting, especially from a wagering and value point of view.
Here is where it might pay to watch and follow riding talent like South Africans Lyle Hewitson and Luke Ferraris, Mauritian Karis Teetan, Harry Bentley from Britain, and world class riders in Andrea Atzeni, below, and Alexis Badel.
Other than Vincent CY Ho, who’s known for his partnership with the now retired champion galloper Golden Sixty, keep an eye on Hong Kong born riders who usually travel under the radar on these big race days- jockeys like Matthew Poon, Matthew Chadwick, Keith Yeung, Jerry Chau, and the very much in-form Derek KC Leung, below.
Could Hong Kong racing one day unveil a riding talent like cricket in India has in the brilliant 22 year old Yashasvi Jaiswal?
As for the Hong Kong racing product, it is hardly the rather Ying Tong way it’s being promoted on the Dead People’s almost dead radio station in Melbourne with background music that sounds like something from a Dr Fu Manchu movie and a voice over selling the “Aussieness” of it all.
What’s key to understand is that the Hong Kong racing product remains the most international brand in the city and is needed for aspirational value and to show the need for balance when promoting what was once known as “Asia’s World City”.
It’s something certainly not lost on the HKJC CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges who started guiding Hong Kong racing to a far more international standard soon after arriving in the city as Director of Racing.
As we approach 2025, can this Hong Kong racing product with its unique Charities Trust be more than the sum of its parts?
Can it also break with “tradition” and FINALLY be recognised as a real SPORT- and more- with sponsorship appeal, government support and a “cooler vibe” that is seen by and attracts a new and younger audience?
Of course it can.
Comments