INTERNATIONAL RACING AT ITS BEST

Sean Trivass finally gets to enjoy Hong Kong’s delights a year late!

- Sean Trivass

This has been a long time coming! As I have been constantly reminded since arriving in Hong Kong by friend and enemy alike, I was one of two who arrived here last year for the racing, tested positive for Covid, and spend the entire trip in a hotel room.

How they all laughed (and still do), with some suggesting I had been entire trip has been and usually is a blast, I am fully aware of how lucky I am, and I am old school - I owe the Hong Kong Jockey Club and those I write for while here the best article my little brain can put together.

It really is the least I can do in the circumstances and something I take great pride in, so please, at least skim through to the end if nothing else.

For those unfamiliar with racing in other jurisdictions, it is more of a marathon than a sprint. Racegoers are here for the duration, and with a 10 race card (some of our all-weather meetings are getting close to that number lately), we headed off earlier than I would have liked to set up our individually allocated workstations, reminded ourselves of the important geographical landmarks (toilet, food outlets, Tote windows, and bars), and made ourselves comfortable before the first race at 12.25pm local time.

You will, I am quietly confident, be delighted to know that I won't be going in-depth on any of the "other "races, outside of the four Group Ones where we have European participation, but I will mention winning jockeys and trainers just in case that turns out to be of any relevance later in the day. Far more importantly I did try a little early retail therapy by splashing out in the souvenir shop on a new tie, and ignoring the wider range of jewellery, plushies, socks and so on that will be flying off the shelves as the afternoon gets going.