Sha Tin
In a column about a software glitch, an extraordinary figure:
We can’t wait for commingling to occur and not just because it will give Hong Kong’s finest taxi drivers the chance to dictate who starts favourite in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and Golden Slipper. The weight of Hong Kong money will leave punters in betting shops around the world scratching their heads and redefine the term market mover. Just for perspective, the accidental HK$30 million was a lot in any language (US$3.8 million) and enough to buy a 30-second commercial during the Super Bowl. But it was also less than 2.5 per cent of the total turnover at Sha Tin yesterday, which reached a solid HK$1.3 billion …
Or about $171 million in American dollars.
For a little perspective: Total handle on the 2012 Kentucky Derby was $133 million, total two-day handle on the 2012 Breeders’ Cup $144 million.
7/11/13 Addendum: Hong Kong handle rises 9%, hits a record high of $93.8 billion ($12.1 billion) in its most recent season, outhandling the US.
“She’s not the biggest filly in the world … but she’s got the biggest heart in the world,” the Guardian quotes trainer Ed Dunlop saying of Snow Fairy after the 3-year-old filly won the Hong Kong Cup on Sunday by a neck with a startling display of late speed. The Telegraph estimates just how fast she was:
The split times for the Hong Kong Cup make astonishing reading. The time for the leading horse is taken every two furlongs of the 10 furlong race, and they highlight the amazing power of Snow Fairy’s stunning final flourish. The times for yesterday’s race were : 25.98s – 25.19s – 25.38s – 23.48s and 22.93s. Considering that she was a good eight lengths behind the leader at the two furlong marker, Snow Fairy must have covered the final two furlongs in around 21 seconds.
I get a stellar :21.8 timing her run from the replay:
Check out Hong Kong’s awesome “Race Running Position Photos,” which shows the filly second to last coming into the stretch (via Equidaily).
Snow Fairy is a name to know for 2011. Dunlop confirmed the globetrotting filly, who won four G1s this year in four different countries, will stay in training as a 4-year-old and could start in the Dubai World Cup.
Copyright © 2000-2023 by Jessica Chapel. All rights reserved.