Latest news with #HKIS
South China Morning Post
23-03-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
HKIS moves to strengthen leadership team
[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Advertisement Heading to Hong Kong a few months from now, Elizabeth Elizardi is clearly excited by the prospect of a new challenge and the turn her career has taken. As from August 1, she will be Lower Primary principal at Hong Kong International School (HKIS), with overall responsibility for the section's 700-plus pupils and close involvement in the launch of an eagerly anticipated dual-language immersion programme in English and Mandarin. 'What first attracted me was HKIS's play-based Reggio Emilia inspired model of early childhood and elementary education,' says Elizardi, who is currently interim head of school at The Country Day School in McLean, Virginia. 'This is an area I am passionate about and, over the last 10 years as a leader in independent schools in the US, I have built a level of expertise working with this model and this age group.' However, during an initial visit to HKIS for a series of interviews, Elizardi was greatly impressed by the evident dedication of her future colleagues to creating this kind of learning environment and developing the unique potential of every child. For teachers, using the Reggio approach can be testing. In particular, it requires an understanding of the complexity at the intersection of play and academic excellence, and that the two are not mutually during an initial visit to HKIS for a series of interviews, Elizardi was greatly impressed by the evident dedication of her future colleagues to creating this kind of learning environment and developing the unique potential of every child. Advertisement 'Everything I had read about the school was aligned with my philosophy of education and what I believe in,' she says. 'And the chance to be somewhere that is so well-resourced and has state-of-the-art facilities convinced me this was the place to be.'
South China Morning Post
10-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong International Sale needs ‘holistic review of every element'
Jockey Club chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said he would order a 'holistic review of every element' of the Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) after a string of disappointing results at Friday night's auction at Sha Tin. After six of the catalogue's 21 horses were withdrawn before the sale on veterinary advice, the average purchase price dropped 9 per cent year on year, and only five of the 15 lots to go through the ring fetched more than their presale cost, resulting in a loss of HK$8.82 million just on the gallopers sold. The total presale cost of the six late withdrawals came to HK$24 million, although the Jockey Club was expected to look to recoup some of its losses by selling some of the withdrawn lots by private tender. Those numbers came a year after the average purchase price dropped more than 30 per cent. 'It's simple – disappointing,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said when asked for his thoughts on a sale that has long been maligned for its lack of overall quality. 'I'm especially disappointed about the number of horses who had to be withdrawn. This is a number which, in my view, needs a complete review,' he added, confirming as many as 11 further horses were bought by the Jockey Club that did not even make it into the catalogue, meaning fewer than half the total purchases were sold on Friday. 'When you look statistically, you would have to expect that 25 per cent, maybe 30 per cent, will not make it. But we are way beyond that, so you have to factor in the whole chain – is it from the buying, do we always buy the right pedigrees, what is the preparation?' Engelbrecht-Bresges put a decline in interest from buyers down to a change in market conditions in Hong Kong. He pointed to the club's continued efforts to entice owners to buy Private Purchases (previously raced horses) by offering a bonus scheme which sees gallopers scoop as much as HK$3 million by winning at certain levels before they turn five. 'With the PP bonuses, some people say 'I would have bought at the auction before but I pay now maybe even HK$1 million more, I buy a PP and I get another HK$1.5 million',' he said. 'There was not enough depth because a lot of times there was not a really strong underbidder. So that is a demand issue besides a supply issue. 'We normally have a lot of mainland buyers. This year we had only one, so we have to look at everything. 'The market has changed and when the market changes, you have to see if what you do is still the right thing to do and you have to think how you put a value proposition there. 'So, it's one thing when you get the withdrawal of horses, which definitely makes it not very sustainable, but the other one is to step back and say how the market has changed. You need to make an analysis and see what you do.' The HKIS exists to offer Jockey Club members an alternative way to buy bloodstock, with gallopers sourced from 'many of the world's premier yearling sales and pre-trained in Australia and Great Britain before coming to Hong Kong'. The world's highest-earning racehorse, Romantic Warrior, is the sale's flag-bearer, although his owner, Peter Lau Pak-fai, was a notable absentee from the list of purchasers after being active at multiple recent sales. Telling was the fact one of this year's most prominent buyers was the Jockey Club itself, who snaffled two lots through its The Racing Club membership arm for HK$6 million. Group Three winner Patch Of Theta and Hong Kong Derby hopeful Markwin are other gallopers to come out of the HKIS in recent years. 'If you look at the overall picture, the sale is a tiny part of our business and what you want to achieve is a good service for owners and an experience for new owners – so that they're familiar with how we select horses with pedigree, so there is a certain educational part of this, too,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'I still believe there are some really good horses in the sale.' An I Am Invincible gelding led the way on Friday night, fetching a bid of HK$5 million.
South China Morning Post
03-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Jockey Club lodges basketball betting proposal, while Vincent Ho faces ‘long recovery'
Chief executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges confirmed on Sunday night that the Jockey Club had lodged its basketball betting proposal with the Hong Kong government. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po announced in his budget speech last week that the government was considering legalising basketball betting, inviting racing officials to submit a proposal as they look to 'combat illegal betting activities in an effective manner'. 'The proposal is with them and we have to see how they want to progress it. It will be interesting,' said Engelbrecht-Bresges. 'Now, they lead and we only can follow because it's a policy decision. They asked us to give them a proposal and we did. 'It is good that it has been recognised that there is obviously a significant illegal gambling problem.' With illegal markets turning over between HK$70 billion (US$9.3 billion) and HK$90 billion on basketball last year, it is hoped the government could earn between HK$1.5 billion and HK$2 billion annually from legalised wagering on the sport, as it grapples with a fiscal deficit of HK$87.2 billion for the 2024-25 financial year. It has been suggested the Jockey Club could offer basketball betting as soon as September. Ho faces 'long recovery' as Purton eyes Derby Engelbrecht-Bresges has also provided an update on the sidelined Vincent Ho Chak-yiu, who continues his slow recovery from a head injury and minor shoulder and neck fractures suffered in a race fall on February 9. Ho posted a video of himself in the gym last week, saying he had started his 'rehab journey and will be taking it one step at a time'. 'I personally think it will be a long recovery after so many concussions. I talked to him last week and said 'take your time'. There is no rush,' Engelbrecht-Bresges said. Ho's most recent tumble was one of a string of bad falls endured by the superstar local jockey in recent years and there has been no suggestion yet whether he will be seen in the saddle again this season. Zac Purton, on the other hand, is confident he remains on track to ride on Hong Kong Derby Day on March 23 after breaking his left big toe in a separate fall on the same day Ho was injured. 'I see the specialist again tomorrow just for a check up to make sure everything is in order, which I don't see why it wouldn't be,' Purton said. 'Then I get the pins out next Monday, wait a couple of days for it to settle then we'll get back on with things. 'I think the Derby should be no problem. I've been going to the gym and the physio and it feels pretty good, so I can't see any reason I won't be back Derby Day. 'There's not much there [in the way of rides] so I could be back Derby Day but the way things are going I might be watching it from the room.' Positivity around HKIS A year after the Hong Kong International Sale (HKIS) saw its average purchase price drop by more than 30 per cent, there is some positivity from officials ahead of this year's auction at Sha Tin on Friday night. After a successful morning of breeze ups at Sha Tin on Saturday, 19 of the original 21 lots remain on track to be sold. 'We've had a really good RSVP rate and obviously wagering has seen a bit of an increase year on year, so it certainly feels like we're in a slightly better position than 12 months ago,' Danny Rolston, HKIS executive manager, said. 'Based on a few of those early runners that have come out of last year's sale, I think a few people have seen that they might have been a bit more of a value buy last year. The breeze ups were excellent and I think we're in good shape.' New Future Folks, Markwin and Perfect General are the gallopers from last year's sale to hit the winners' list and Rolston identified a couple of horses from this year's sale he likes the look of – a Toronado gelding out of a Pierro mare and a Lope De Vega chestnut. 'Lots 11 and 17 are a couple of horses that have taken the eye a fair bit,' he said. 'They're two of the horses we've liked all the way through and when it came to the breeze ups they showed up as well.'
